Thursday 15 November 2007

Thermite Process

Method used in incendiary devices and welding operations. It uses a powdered mixture of aluminium and (usually) iron oxide, which, when ignited, gives out enormous heat. The oxide is reduced to iron, which is molten at the high temperatures produced. This can be used to make a weld. The process was discovered in 1895 by German chemist Hans Goldschmidt (1861–1923).

See http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0006275.html

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