Episode 4 of the Dr. Stone anime has been released. Senku and his friends have separated from Tsukasa and are now in Hakone. There, they begin making gunpowder using charcoal, potassium nitrate, and sulfur (sourced from a hot spring) in preparation for their confrontation with Tsukasa. At this point, a scene from the past, depicting Senku as a child, is shown. The line that appears is, "Iron sand and aluminum foil... what a mess. The thermite reaction is making the frying pan all sludgy." So what exactly is a thermite reaction? Let's take a look at this reaction.
What is a thermite reaction? ?
Thermite reaction, also known as the thermite process, is a method of reducing metal oxides by burning aluminum metal and metal oxides together. The name comes from the Greek word "therm," meaning heat, and as the name suggests, it is a metallurgical method that generates high temperatures. This method was invented by Hans Goldschmidt and is also known as the Goldschmidt process.
What is the thermite process used for?
A typical use is thermite welding. This welding method utilizes the high heat generated by the oxidation of thermite. It is used to weld complex structures, including rails and axles for trains. It is said that it was also used in incendiary bombs during the war. The thermite process was originally developed for the purpose of manufacturing long rails.
What are the characteristics of the thermite reaction?
Chemical Formula
While the chemical formula is helpful in understanding its characteristics, let's look at the reaction between metallic aluminum and iron(III) oxide.
2Al + Fe2O3 → Al2O3 + 2Fe
As you can see here, the thermite process is an oxidation-reduction reaction that can extract elemental metals.
Characteristics
The first characteristic is that it generates a large amount of heat and is accompanied by fermentation. This is why Senku mentions the frying pan becoming mushy. The second characteristic is that, because carbon is not used, the resulting metal does not contain carbon. In other words, the reaction between metallic aluminum and iron(III) oxide allows for the extraction of iron as an elemental metal.
Thermite Reaction is Dangerous
In the anime, Senku takes a very defensive stance to observe the thermite reaction. It's that dangerous. Don't be tempted to experiment with it carelessly. Also, back when I was a kid, I studied for university entrance exams, knowing that it might come up. I'm not sure if it's still the case now. If you search for thermite reaction on YouTube, you'll probably find it mentioned, so if you're interested, I recommend checking out the videos!
