There is also the possibility of using it as a
fuel in the internal combustion engine in place of gasoline, but for
this purpose we must find some way of getting hydrogen portable or
producible in a compact form.
Aluminum, like silicon, sodium and calcium, has been rescued by violence
from its attachment to oxygen and like these metals it reverts with
readiness to its former affinity. Dr. Goldschmidt made use of this
reaction in his thermit process. Powdered aluminum is mixed with iron
oxide (rust). If the mixture is heated at any point a furious struggle
takes place throughout the whole mass between the iron and the aluminum
as to which metal shall get the oxygen, and the aluminum always comes
out ahead. The temperature runs up to some 6000 degrees Fahrenheit
within thirty seconds and the freed iron, completely liquefied, runs
down into the bottom of the crucible, where it may be drawn off by
opening a trap door. The newly formed aluminum oxide (alumina) floats as
slag on top. The applications of the thermit process are innumerable.
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