Q&A for How to Make Thermite

Making iron nodes. It used to be used to weld train tracks together. The military uses it to quickly destroy valuable information or equipment in a hurry during war.

No. Thermite is an oxidation of the aluminum powder to aluminum oxide and a concurrent reduction of the iron oxide powder to iron. The aluminum and iron oxidation and reduction, respectively, form the two half cells of the thermite redox reaction. If you start with aluminum oxide and iron, you have the stable products after a thermite reaction, not the unstable reagents needed to make a thermite reaction.

For iron thermite, it burns violently. If you replace the iron oxide with copper oxide it explodes. A thermite mixture made from iron oxide & alumimium powder mixed together can explode for no reason.

In some places it is illegal, but as long as you aren't putting yourself or other people in danger, it is probably fine.

You can buy iron oxide at a pottery supply store or online. You can also get it by rusting some steel wool.

Yes, as longs as it's pure aluminum. Remember, the smaller the particles, the quicker the chemical reaction. In this case, fast is good.

No. The firework fuse wouldn't burn at a high enough temperature to cause the reaction between the Fe203 and Aluminum. A magnesium strip burns at about 5000c, so it is plenty hot enough to cause the reaction.

Yes, it should.

Online, where you should be able to get a giant 5lb bag for just a few dollars.

Yes, that would actually be a thermate reaction instead of thermite. Be careful though, BaNO3 is a fairly powerful oxidizer and would likely create a flash powder like substance that would explode with a bright green flash.

That is way too dangerous and unreliable. Magnesium ribbon or a sparkler are the safest, most reliable methods of ignition.

Magnesium powder and iron oxide powder need to be mixed in a 3:10 ratio to form viable thermite. However, since magnesium is more reactive than aluminium, it is much easier to set off, especially since magnesium can spontaneously combust under certain circumstances.

Chemical supply company. Sparklers can be used in place of magnesium ribbon.

If you mixed it with alcohol or acetone I imagine you could, but it wouldn't burn until you let it dry. If you are trying to create an object made of iron, then this is not the way to go. Either melt the iron via conventional methods and cast it, or let the thermite flow into a mold.

Igniting a magnesium fuse with common matches would be a hard task, so it's easier to use a blowtorch.

You can get aluminum powder from hardware stores or from breaking an Etch-A-Sketch. You can get magnesium strips from chemical companies. You can also find these things online.

Yes, but be extra cautious as the reaction may be explosive.

The very fact that you're asking this question indicates premeditation, so if you try to do this, you can and will be arrested.

You can't actually directly buy thermite. There is no age limit on buying the components, but you should always have a responsible adult nearby.

Yes, it can, since it burns at over thirty times the boiling point of water. However, you would probably get a steam explosion, so attempting to do this is a very bad idea.

In some places, yes, but generally it's OK so long as you don't use it on other people's property.

Yes, but it is very difficult. Thermite has a high activation energy threshold.

1/2 cup to 1 cup. It depends a lot on the size of your reaction vessel. A bigger vessel can require a lot more thermite.

Thermite is an incendiary, not an explosive. If you want to blow stuff up, I would strongly recommend that you fork out the extra money for the legitimate stuff.

There is aluminum left behind. It's a chemical reaction, not a nuclear one. So what goes in the reaction comes out. In this case, probably combined with the oxygen from atmosphere to give you the shiny aluminum oxide.

No, magnesium can light at about 500ºC, but burns at about 3000ºC. You need something that gets that hot to light thermite.

Thermites are a reaction between a metal oxide, in this case iron, and another metal that has a higher affinity for oxygen. In this case it is aluminum. Zinc thermite is possible, just replace the iron oxide with zinc oxide. However, when using different metal oxides, you must be vary careful as they usually have different results. Ex: copper oxide instead of iron oxide results in a brilliant explosion, on the flip side, chromium oxide thermite is very slow burning.

Plaster of Paris. There is a good YouTube video that shows this. But, it's nothing really complex, you just pack it together with the stuff.

You don't. Thermite is an incendiary, not an explosive. In addition, it is illegal to use it to destroy anybody's property (unless you obtain their permission first).

Grind it up! Thermite is very stable, and it is virtually impossible to set it off without exposing it to an extremely high temperature, which is why a magnesium strip is used to ignite it.