"Miles Maxted" bravely wrote to "Paul Rogers" (13 Dec
04  05:11:00)
 --- on the heady topic of "Re: a scientific answer"

 MM> G'morning Paul,

 PR> Magnesium worksjust dandy.  Powdered magnesium and iron filings
 PR> was how they used to weld railroad rails.

 MM> As I recall the constitution of thermite,  wasn't it powdered
 MM> aluminum and iron ignited by magnesium that welded railroad rails
 MM> and other artifacts ?

 MM> Setting light to magnesium tape was one of the joys of my early
 MM> youth ... awesome light !

 MM> :-))

I spelled it wrong as according to Britanica it has no E ending and is
written as Thermit. Yes, magnesium tape is used to light it.

 Paraphrasing:

It consists of aluminum powder and iron oxide. It produces a
temperature estimated between 2,300 and 2,700 Centigrade. It was
discovered by Dr.Hans Goldschmidt of Essen, Germany. He was trying to
refine chromium and manganese. The temperature was so high at the
moment of ignition that it exploded. He was granted US patent #615700
on March 16, 1897 relating to the use of aluminum as a reducing agent
for producing carbon free metals, and is known as the aluminothermic
process. Thermit is commonly used in foundry work and for welding.

There you go... seems I remembered some little tidbit our highschool
chemistry teacher passed on to us after all... wow!

 M*i*k*e

... 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
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