Being a cheap drunk is nothing to be ashamed of...wait, there's got to be a better way of phrasing that...

-Blast

inexpensive inebriate? Sounds impressive, anyway;-)

I was just trying to forumulate if you just wanted it, or needed it before you purchased your "equipment".

According to DW "wants" = "needs", unless we are talking about me.

As for the beer/boom connection I always want the boom, but the current social situation holds that in check...about six beers worth of check.
The day the local fireworks warehouse stores starts offering free drinks (like Las Vegas casinos) is the day they become very, very rich...

-Blast

"...giggling..."

Real mad bombers don't giggle. At least not 'til right after detonation...

That could be correct, but it also might have another danger.

However, if it is rusty, isn't the steel already oxidized, that is burnt? Anyone help me out, is that right?

I think you might be able to create tinder by ruting steel wool in a sealed environment, like a ziplock. If I recall correctly, steel that is allowed to rust in the absence of oxygen, rusts incompletely, much like wood burned without oxygen becomes charcoal. With the steel that is imcompletely rusted, there is a danger of having a nasty fire when oxygen is allowed into the area. If I had the space, I might try some experiments, but they will have to wait until I move.

Yes, that is correct enough for this level. Rust is the result of iron reacting with oxygen in the presence of water. The amount of oxygen available determines what iron oxide molecules will form. If enough oxygen is present the end result will be the same as if it were burned.

Sealing the steel wool in an oxygen-free ziploc will prevent rust. As for "partially" rusted the steel wool being a better tinder, that doesn't make sense. The un-rusted steel wool is chemically more reactive than steel with even a little bit of rust. Think of unrusted steel as a 17yr old boy...it REALLY wants to react with that cute, redheaded oxygen molecule. But once he does he's blocked (a bit anyway) from going after those twin Swedish exchange-student oxygens...

However, this *might* not be the case with using steel wool in combination with a battery. In this process the steel wool gets hot because electrons are passing through it. The steel has a certain resistance to this flow of electrons and this friction produces heat. If you increase the friction of the elctron flow more heat will be produced. The slightly rusted steel wool probably has a higher friction and so the stuff heats up faster to a higher temperature. I'm just guessing on this, though.

-Blast

Great answer Blast. Ever think about becoming a teacher?

Just think, they could set it all up adjacent to a teaching hospital ER. That way there would be a steady flow of folks for the medico's in training.

Oh, wait a second.....

That is why they put the teaching hospitals where they do now.

One of my responsibilities at work is teaching a week-long chemistry course to engineers. By the end of it the engineers almost seem human...

-Blast