Promethean Matches - The Ancestor to Modern Matches

Рет қаралды 66,460

5 ай бұрын

In this video we make the ancestor to modern matches before phosphorus: The Promethean Match
The operating principle is that sulfuric acid would react with potassium chlorate and sugar to catch fire. So to turn it into a match, the sulfuric acid was stored in a glass capsule that was broken and mixed with potassium chlorate and sugar. This would ignite and set fire to the paper roll it was packaged in.
Related video: Lighting Matches with Acid - • Light Matches with Acid
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Пікірлер: 240

@NurdRage

Merry Christmas, and have a happy new year. May we one day have peace on earth. See you all next year, in a couple of weeks.

@cybercat1531

I volunteer at a local Museum and we would occasionally find these among donated collections or sets of old household items that got donated.

@FutureAIDev2015

The sound they make when they ignite is really satisfying, it's like a solid rocket igniter.

@pattheplanter

Charles Darwin describing the voyage of the Beagle, 1839: "I carried with me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting." Occupational safety was different then.

@petevenuti7355

Finally something paper straws might be useful for!

@user-kz8tw4vj7z

So thats what these are! I remember reading a book a long time ago and they were mentioning something called "Lucifer matches" that involved breaking glass, and I've always wondered what those were and if it was something the author made up or not. Cool, thanks Mr Nurd!

@firstmkb

I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a visceral reaction to a KZbin video as when your first one ignited with such “enthusiasm!”

@Jakobandfriendslostinthought

I used to watch Nurdrage when I was little I’m so happy it’s still a continuing and growing channel

@KnightsWithoutATable

Alchemical matches from D&D should work like these, including the failures and the skill, risk, and/or tools needed for use.

@larrybud

Whoah whoah whoah, you had me at "fire" And Finally, a good use for paper straws!

@icebluscorpion

Glycerine and sodium permanganate would do the trick as well and would be safer to use. Also drenching the paper straws with wax would be better as well to have a decent burn time like a match

@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648

These old matches were noisy (what with breaking glass and violently flaring chemical mixtures), and the newer kind that replaced them were sometimes known as silent matches. Gilbert and Sullivan wrote about the newer matches in the number "With Cat-Like Tread" in the operetta "The Pirates of Penzance." They were the appropriate thing to quietly light the candle inside the "dark lantern" (which had a shutter to let out light only at the proper time). The number itself was a roaring ironic farce, with the pirates on stage making as much noise as possible in spite of singing about stealth in their new pursuit of "burglaree." Anyhow, this is something about historical context. People preferred a tamer flame once it became possible. Perhaps NurdRage could trace the further development of the match. I believe there were several steps in that development, including those for safety sake (red phosphorus instead of white, and strike-on-box). The first striking matches, using white phosphorus, were hazardous to the employees who produced them, and the reticence to move to the safer but costlier red phosphorus and then phosphorus sesquisulphide (?) was a result of cold business practices.

@robertsmith4681

I did not realize that those were known that far back, I'm only familiar with various flavors of ww2 "time pencils" and similar ignition devices

@Enjoymentboy

This is awesome!!!! I KNEW I had seen these things somewhere a very long time ago but whenever i mentioned then people either said there was no way or just looked at me like i was crazy. I had no idea what they were called so no way to search for them. Thank you for putting this to rest for me. 😊😊😊

@homeopathicfossil-fuels4789

This is actually quite cool however hazardous it is, I wonder if they were ever used to ignite rocket artillery, like as a tail on the fuse or something.

@giuliorossi4418

That little jumpscared jiggle- dude's adorable

@Frank-bc8gg

finally a good use of paper straws

@chemistryofquestionablequa6252

Sugar and chlorate in the right proportion tends to detonate as you found out. Glad it was very localized and didn’t propagate through the rest of the mixture. Glycerine/permanganate or glycerine/calcium hypochlorite would also work.