I am getting ready for an outdoor chemistry demo show next week and I tried my first thermite reaction. This is a classic reaction between aluminum metal and iron(III) oxide to produce aluminum oxide and iron metal, but the reaction is so hot that the iron produced is a liquid. I used pretty much the classic setup described in Shakhashiri's books. You can see the iron dripping out of the clay flower pot on the stand into the sand bucket. In the other picture you can see the glow of the cooling iron. The thermite reaction has been used for a long time for both peace and war applications, but it must be shown a LOT of respect. For a movie of a much larger quantity of thermite destroying a car, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjLgzgflCk8&feature=related
Today is my 39th birthday and my 15th anniversary. It was a busy working day, but went well. Some students gave me a big Happy Birthday cookie at one of my meetings - apparently Karen tipped them off. I missed Kris's second game tonight (meeting), but Peoria Christian School lost again. The Brazilian men's beach volleyball team is playing at the Olympics, their shirts say "BRA", too (see a few posts ago). That could be really confusing!
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