[lightarrow]

Everything correct. You have won a prize!
Remember however that every reaction involving iron in water solution is affected very much from the value of pH .

[Mr Andrew]

Yay!!! [], What did I win?!? []

When you said reactions of iron in water are affected by pH, am I right in saying that if the pH is too high, Fe(OH)₃ would precipitate?  It shouldn't matter if it has a low pH, right...unless the conjugate base of the acid is insoluble when combined with Fe³⁺ ions.  But then again, if it was generally insoluble, it wouldn't be a strong acid and wouldn't lower the pH much.  I believe acetates are genereally soluble so it wouldn't really matter too much if vinegar was used.

So, simpsonsman, if you put roughly 1 part iron wool in a solution of 4 parts vinegar and 1 part peroxide (by mass, of course) you should get some rust fairly quickly.  This should be dried before use in a thermite reaction.  I must caution you about thermite: it creates temperatures hot enough to melt the iron produced and the aluminum powder needed is very dangerous.  I'm sorry to say, only a licensed chemist should try to run a thermite reaction because of the safety issues.

[simpsonsman]

WOW, so you need iron wool for the rust, or will steel wool work?

 Is this rust i have useful or should i throw it out?

Can you make rust by burning steel wool with an electrical current?

[daveshorts]

The only thing I would worry about if you were buring steel wool (apart from safety obviously) is that you are quite likely forming FeO rather than Fe₂O₃ - FeO tends to be black rather than brown. And this will have less oxygen to react with your aluminium.

[lightarrow]

Yes. However is good the same for thermite. They say the best is Fe₃O₄. There isn't however a big difference from thermite made with FeO, Fe₃O₄, Fe₂O₃, providing that it's used the right stoichometry (I'm not sure this is the correct translation).

[lightarrow]

Yay!!! [], What did I win?!?

You won a cool reputation!

When you said reactions of iron in water are affected by pH, am I right in saying that if the pH is too high, Fe(OH)₃ would precipitate? It shouldn't matter if it has a low pH, right...unless the conjugate base of the acid is insoluble when combined with Fe³⁺ ions.

Ok.

But then again, if it was generally insoluble, it wouldn't be a strong acid and wouldn't lower the pH much.

For the special case of Fe³⁺ this is almost always true; in general it's not true: AgCl, for example, is insoluble, but HCl is a strong acid.

I believe acetates are genereally soluble so it wouldn't really matter too much if vinegar was used.

Yes, however acetic acid, or acetates in general, as organic substances can be oxidated by strong oxidizing agents, especially if these are in high concentration and with very low pH.

[simpsonsman]

is it true that batery acid mixed with sugar makes a thermite like reaction?

[lightarrow]

is it true that batery acid mixed with sugar makes a thermite like reaction?

"Thermite like" not at all. I know that concentrated sulfuric acid with sugar makes a vigorous exothermic reaction, which gives a black solid mass which grows quickly and comes out of the container, but I don't think diluted sulfuric acid (=battery acid) could give something of that kind. If you concentrate it, it's another story...

[moonfire]

Whew!  that is a good thing..hehe...Hiya Alberto...miss you much...

[lightarrow]

Hello Loretta! A kiss and a hug to you!
Have a good day!
P.S.
(I hope your comment on my previous post it's not what I think!)

[moonfire]

Which one hon?  Which area?  Yikes...hehe  Let me think about all possible responses....I know I didn't say I was pregnant...no, that wasn't it? I didn't win the lottery...no, drats, that thought made me mad...I am coming to Italy in April, yes, I am doing that when I get over to Europe...I did wear all appropriate clothing to work today...yes, ...uh, oh...help the ole lady out now, what crazy comment did I leave on your post?  LOL  Covering my eyes..okay, peeking out of one of my hands over one eye...

[lightarrow]

You have a lot of fantasy Loretta! Do you write, by chance?
A kiss to you.

[moonfire]

LOL  Yes, I do....not professionally, even though I have friends that encourage me to post some of my short stories or poetry...I prefer to share with friends as that is most rewarding as some of the magazines want me to shave some of the words off my stories or poetry...nah, I won't do that, so they shall remain with me...LOL

Baci a voi il mio principe handsome che affascina; -)!  Also, I noticed that Baci and Besos are very similar in pronouncing(two different languages)

[lightarrow]

Tebia toje, Loretta. Mnoghi pozelui.
Alberto.

[huwston]

am i right to to think that 2 mole of al will react with 3 moles of FeO 2:3 OR 1:1.5

SO 350g of Al = 350/27 = 12.962 mol

FeO 55.8 + 16 + 71.8

12.962 mole of Al x 1.5 moles of FeO = 19.444 mol x  (molar mass of FeO)71.8 = 1396.079

so 350g of Al will need 1396.079g of FeO to make a thermite mix
 ive read of a few different ratios of thermite and im unsure as to which 1 to follow.
just wanted to know if these figures ive worked out are correct, and will KMnO4 and glycerine ignite thermite?

[ukmicky]

I've seen thermite lit with a bunch of matches stuck together on a stick so all the heads were touching with one poking out the centre that burns down and ignites the rest all at once whilst their being poked in the container of thermite

[lightarrow]

am i right to to think that 2 mole of al will react with 3 moles of FeO 2:3 OR 1:1.5 SO 350g of Al = 350/27 = 12.962 mol
FeO 55.8 + 16 + 71.8
12.962 mole of Al x 1.5 moles of FeO = 19.444 mol x  (molar mass of FeO)71.8 = 1396.079
so 350g of Al will need 1396.079g of FeO to make a thermite mix
 ive read of a few different ratios of thermite and im unsure as to which 1 to follow.
just wanted to know if these figures ive worked out are correct, and will KMnO4 and glycerine ignite thermite?

Your computation is correct. About igniting thermite with KMnO₄ and glycerine I really don't know, but if you have not a small amount of it, I think yes. The critical point however is how fine-grained is the Al powder. With grey powder there usually is no problem. With the brilliant powder, which is more common, is very difficult to ignite it.

[moonfire]

Tebia toje, Loretta. Mnoghi pozelui.
Alberto.

Stumped here...It looks like a mixture of Spanish and Russian???  aagghh!  LOL  I need some help here...is this a different dialect in Italiano?

[lightarrow]

Tebia toje, Loretta. Mnoghi pozelui.
Alberto.

Stumped here...It looks like a mixture of Spanish and Russian???  aagghh!  LOL  I need some help here...is this a different dialect in Italiano?

Not Italian, not Spanish. You guessed the rest.
I wrote: "To you too, Loretta. Many kisses"
Bye!

[moonfire]

LOL  You are too sweet...Russian! I don't know much there...you got me!!!  You know Russian!