Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/24/watch-molten-thermite-in-wate.html
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I had a maniac physics teacher who would do end-of-term thermite experiments, half an hour of standing in a freezing field with him cackling, until WHOOMP, must have been impressive, I still remember it, can’t remember his name.
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It surely tops the traditional molybdomancy on New Year’s Eve.
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Ooo
I would like to point out, though, it’s wrong to say the high temperature is explained by the reaction being exothermic. It is, but no more so than lots of other reactions that can’t be used to produce such high temperatures. The particular thing about thermite is that all the species involved have high boiling points, i.e. the reaction doesn’t produce any gases, so the evolved heat builds up in a small volume, rather than being carried away by gaseous products.
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