Thermit and the principles of combustion

It is well known that when we mix together 3 parts by weight of iron oxide with 1 part by weight of aluminium powder and ignite it, we obtain melted iron at about 2400 °C and aluminium oxide,the reaction being somewhat hazardous. This mixture was named thermit by the inventor. The reaction is considered as follows  

once the thermit is ignited, the reaction is maintained by itself and it proceeds along the cartridge to the other end. Fig.20 shows the phenomenon schematically. 

The reaction zone B appears to run along the cartridge like a mechanical wave, and often we call it the combustion wave . 

The reaction of thermit is approximately solid to solid (or to liquid), and almost all the combustion heat is used to raise the temperature of the created material C, i.e. the heat concentrates in a narrow space, and therefore we obtain a very high temperature like 2400 C. The burning reaction of firework compositions is the same as thermit in principle, but more complex than the latter. 

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