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(68 votes) Published: Aug 02, 2008 6:11 p.m. In 1 Favorites Lists Viewed 463 times
Beginners "The Chemistry Of Thermite"
I have about three pages I am leaving out regarding other aspects of this...If you know me personally you know where to find it :D
cheers
I suppose a good place to start on the chemistry of thermite would be that all thermites are a metal oxide/halide/noble gas on a metal and pure metal reacting to displace gas on the oxidizer and subsequently oxidize the pure metal. You can make a thermite with pretty much any combination of metals, your only limitation are toxicity and availability. ratios are as simple as calculating the stoichiometry and mass
for example, the most straight forward and familiar thermite:
Fe2O3(s) + 2Al(s) --heat--> 2Fe(a) + Al2O3(s/g)
simplified net ionic equation (the extended would take a long time to type):
2Fe + 3O + 2Al
2Fe + Al2O3
in this reaction one mole of Iron(III)Oxide, containing two moles of Iron and three moles of Oxygen, react with two moles of Aluminium to make two moles of liquid Iron and one mol of Gaseous AND solid Aluminium Oxide
we can take this a step further by going up in the reactivity series and reacting the Aluminium Oxide with...say... magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium, or lithium to make the corresponding basic oxide/halide of the metal higher in reactivity.
as a general note, the further in distance the the reacting metals are in the reactivity series the more "vigorous" the reaction :D
As in the case of Copper(II) Oxide and Aluminium.
3CuO(s) + 2Al(s) ---heat---> Al2O3(g) + 3Cu(g)
Now all thermites with the exception of mercury based (NEVER MAKE THIS!!!!) are going to be a reaction between two solids.
the phases (gas, liquid, solid, plasma (yes a plasma is possible although it is transient only occurring in the closed system of the reaction)) of the products in the reaction depend on the heat of reaction which is a function of the heat of formation of the products.
as thus, the heat of reaction act directly upon the properties of the metal including but not limited to BOTH metals boiling points and vaporization points.
subsequently, the change of state of the material in question is a major influence in the overall temperature of the reaction.
IE, the hotter it is and the more volatile the materials used, the more products in the form of gas and liquid formed.
Reactivity Series
Now, you may be asking what is this "reactivity series he’s talking about"
Well I’m glad you asked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactivity_series
Quote:
In chemistry, the reactivity series is a series of metals, in order of reactivity from highest to lowest. It is used to determine the products of single displacement reactions, whereby metal A will replace another metal B in a solution if A is higher in the series.
Going from bottom to top, the metal’s:
* reactivity increases
* lose electrons more readily
* form positive ions more readily
* become stronger reducing agents
A metal ’high up’ in the reactivity series:
* reacts vigorously and quickly with some chemicals
* readily gives up electrons in reactions to form positive ions
* is corroded easily
* requires more energy to separate it from its ore
A metal ’low down’ in the reactivity series:
* does not react vigorously and quickly with chemicals
* does not readily give up electrons in reactions to form positive ions
* is not corroded easily
* requires less energy to separate it from its ore
Metal Ion formed
Li Li+
K K+
Ca Ca2+
Na Na+
Mg Mg2+
Al Al3+
Zn Zn2+
Fe Fe2+
Sn Sn2+
Pb Pb2+
H2 H+
Cu Cu2+
Ag Ag+
Au Au3+
Measurement
to measure the reactants needed one should find the molar weight of both
for example:
Code:
Fe2O3 159.69 g/mol
Al 26.98154 g/mol
so it goes as follows 159.69 159.69
------------- > ------------ 2x26.98154 53.96308
that means that you need for equivalent ratios (all the guides you see are rounded off which leads to an incomplete reaction, also, some are done by volume which is just retarded as shit)
Aug 02, 2008 9:19 pm - ^Good enough for me.
I’ll give you four stars because I didn’t care for the format of this egg. Good job and I’m glad we don’t have another shitty copypaster on RE.
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