St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-03-10
COMBUSTIBILITY OF IRON.
Conditions Under Which the Metal VIII
Burn Readily.

Conditions Under Which the Metal VIII
| Burn Readily.
Combustibility is not generally con
sidered one of the properties of iron
yet that metal will under proper condi
tons burn readily. The late Prof
Magnus, of Berlin, Germany, devised
the following method of showing the
combustibility of iron: A mass of iron
filings is approached by a magnet of con
siderable power, and quantity there
of is permitted to adhere to it. This
loose, spongy tuft of iron powder con.
tains large quantity of air imprisoned
between its particles, and is, therefore
and because of its extremely commin'
uted condition, we'll adapted to mani.
fest its combustibility. The flame Of
an ordinary spirit lamp OF Bunsen
burner readily sets fire to the finely di
vided iron, which continues to burr
brilliantly and freely. By waving the
magnet to and fro the showers OF
sparks sent off produce striking anc
brilliant effect.
The assertion that iron is more com.
bustible than gunpowder, has it's origin
in the following experiment, which is
also very striking one: A little alec.
hol is poured into a saucer and ignited.
A mixture of gunpowder and iron fl
ings is allowed to fall in small quaint.
ties at a time into the flame of the burn
ing alcohol, when it will be observed
that the iron witt take fire in its pas
sage through the flame, while the gun.
powder will fall through it and col
lect beneath the liquid alcohol
below unconsumed. This, however,
is scientific trick, and the expert.
ment hardly justifies the sweeping
assertion that iron is more combustibIe
than gunpowder. The ignition of the
iron under the foregoing circumstances
is due to the fact that the metal parti.
cles, being admirable conductors Oh
heat, are able to absorb sufficient heal
during their passage through the flame
and they are consequently raised te
the ignition point. The particles of thf
gunpowder, however, are very poo,
conductors of heat, comparatively
speaking, and during the exceedingly
brief time consumed in their passage
through the flame they do not become
heated appreciably, or certainly not te
their point of ignition. Under ordinary
circumstances, gunpowder is vastly
more infammable than iron.
Another method of exhibiting the
combustibility of iron, which would
appear to justify the assertion that il
is really more combustible than gun
powder is the following: Place in re.
factory tube of Bohemian glass guam.
tity of dry, freshly-precipitated by
drafted ferric oxide. Heat this oxide
to bright redness, and pass current
of hydrogen through the tube. The
hydrogen will deprive the oxide of its
oxygen, and reduce the mass to the
state. If, when the reduction
appears to be finished, the tube is re.
moved from the flame and it's contents
permitted to fall out into the air, IL
will take fire spontaneously and burn
to oxide again. This experiment indi.
Gates that pure iron in Ii state of the
EXTREMIST subdivision is one of the
most combustible substances. known
more SO even than gunpowder and
other explosive substances, which re-
quire the application of considerable
heat or of a spark to ignite Them
Iron Ags.