Thermite is made using 25.3% aluminium and 74.7% iron oxide. (This mixture is sold under the brand name Thermit as a heat source for welding.) The complete formula for the reaction using iron (III) oxide is as follows:
Fe2O3 + 2Al == Al2O3 + 2Fe
Which shows that Thermite does not contain sulfur but it does contain aluminum.
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Bravo, yesitdid ! You have found the 'secret formula' for the 'Goldschmidt process' of using thermite for welding. Yep, you're right - iron & aluminum ... no sulphur.
But, the idea in the 'explosives' theory is not to use the thermite for welding steel together, but rather for burning / melting it apart. The regular 'Goldschmidt thermite' formula for welding contains no sulphur.
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"The chemical analysis of those eroded columns shows a lot of sulfur. They do not mention aluminum.
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So true, and here it gets 'interesting'.
When I say thermite, I'm not talking about the brand name stuff used in welding.
The 'missing' aluminum is not really that surprising to me. The aluminum reduces the iron oxide to molten iron and forms a slag of aluminum oxide on its surface. This slag could easily have been abraded away during the collapse, burial, removal, transportation, handling etc, etc, etc. We might very well find some if 'they' hadn't so quickly and illegally disposed of all the evidence.
Not finding any aluminum on a sample is not evidence that there never was none, perhaps with adequate samples for testing this slag might have been found. We can't arrive at a definitive answer regarding 'aluminum slag' to say that none existed. Perhaps none existed on the piece, or perhaps investigators dismissed any aluminum slag they found and just attributed it to remnants of the plane, or other aluminum in the towers.
The more important aspect is the unexplained sulphur...
"A liquid eutectic mixture containing primarily iron, oxygen, and sulfur formed during this hot corrosion attack on the steel." [pg 1]
"No clear explanation for the source of the sulfur has been identified." [pg 13]
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/fema403_apc.pdf
The aluminum / iron formula is the simple basic formula. Exotic 'thermites' can use other chemicals for varying effects - although most of these are for military uses (and as such are not widely publicized). I have heard of Flouride combinations - but that's not important here at the moment.
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One problem with thermites is the difference in weight between the aluminum and the iron oxide. This causes them to separate out rendering the thermite useless.One way to fix this is to use a binder to hold the chemicals to each other. Sulfur is good for this. Called Diasite, this formula uses sulfur to bind all the chemicals together.
The percentages are as follows...
Iron Oxide - 70%
Aluminum - 23%
Sulfur - 7%
Hmmm... starting to sound a little more like what was found with the WTC steel, wouldn't you think?
Ya gotta dig pretty deep for this info. I found it at a 'unorthodox' site (almost advocates violence ).
You might be very careful visiting this site if you are in the states (homeland security, and all)...it's probably flagged.
http://www.hackcanada.com/blackcraw...ve/thermite.txt
The people are a little 'militant' shall we say...
http://www.hackcanada.com/blackcrawl/patriot.html
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Another tidbit of information is ...
"Iron oxide reacts with aluminum to produce molten iron. A: The reaction is initiated by the heat from a sparkler which is placed in the iron oxide/aluminum mixture B: The reaction is initiated by the heat from glycerin plus potassium permanganate" .
cool little animated gif - a little more action that the experiment you posted Tinfoil...
http://genchem.chem.wisc.edu/demons...te_reaction.htm