What are matches made of and why do they burn?
Editorial responseThe first real matches were invented on April 10, 1833, when yellow phosphorus was introduced into the mass for match heads. It is this day that is considered the birthday of the first match.
In Russian, the word "match" is derived from the old Russian word "matches" - the plural form of the word "spoke" (a pointed wooden stick). Initially, this word denoted wooden nails that were used in the manufacture of shoes (for attaching the sole).
At first, the phrase “incendiary (or samogar) matches” was used to designate matches, and only after the widespread use of matches, the first word began to be omitted, and then completely disappeared from everyday life.
The work of the match factory "Victory" in the village of Verkhny Lomov. Photo: RIA Novosti / Julia Chestnova
What are matches made of?
Most match factories make them from aspen. In addition to this type of wood, linden, poplar and other trees are also used. A special machine for making matches can produce up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour working day.
Why do matches burn?
When we rub the match head against the wall of the box, a series of chemical reactions begins. The box is coated. It consists of red phosphorus, fillers and glue. During friction, the particles of red phosphorus turn into white, it heats up and lights up already at 50 degrees. The box lights up first, not the match. To prevent the spread on the box from burning all at once, phlegmatizers are introduced into its composition. They absorb some of the generated heat.
Half of the mass of the head is oxidizing agents, in particular Bertolet's salt. When decomposed, it easily releases oxygen. To lower the decomposition temperature of Berthollet salt, a catalyst, manganese dioxide, is added to the composition of the mass. The main combustible substance is sulfur. So that the head does not burn out too quickly and does not scatter into pieces, fillers are added to the mass: ground glass, zinc white, red iron. It's all tied together with different adhesives.
What are matches?
In addition to ordinary (household) matches, there are about 100 types of special matches that differ in size, color, composition and degree of burning.
The most common types are:
Storm - burn even under water and in the wind (wind, hunting);
Thermal - they can be soldered (welded), as they emit a large amount of heat;
Signal - capable of emitting a colored flame;
Fireplace and gas - long matches for kindling fireplaces and gas stoves;
Decorative (souvenir) - gift matches, often have a colored head;
Photographic - used to create an instantaneous flash.
Matches for the tourist. Photo: RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov
What are matches used for?
Matches are designed for:
Obtaining an open fire at home;
Ignition of a fire, furnaces, stoves, kerosene gas;
Lighting stearin and wax candles;
Lighting cigarettes, cigars, etc.
Matches are also used for other purposes:
For practicing applied arts in the construction of houses, castles, for making decorative crafts;
For hygienic purposes (for cleaning the ear canals);
For the repair of radio, audio and video equipment (matches wrapped in a cotton swab and soaked in alcohol are used to wipe hard-to-reach places of equipment).
"Tsar Match" 7.5 meters long, which was made in the city of Chudovo. The product claims to be included in the Guinness Book of Records. Photo: RIA Novosti / Mikhail Mordasov
1. Matches with multi-colored heads (red, blue, brown, green, etc.), contrary to the existing myth, differ from each other only in color. They burn exactly the same.
2. Combustible mass for matches was once prepared from white phosphorus. But then it turned out that this substance was unhealthy - the smoke generated during combustion was poisonous, and for suicide it was enough to eat just one match head.3. The first Russian match manufactory was registered in 1837 in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, the first factory appeared in 1848. At first, matches were made from white phosphorus. Safe red phosphorus began to be used only in 1874.
4. A matchbox of the Soviet / Russian sample according to GOST has a length of exactly 5 cm, which makes it possible to measure the size of objects with its help.
5. Using a match, you can remove an ink stain from an oilcloth. To do this, slightly moisten the contaminated surface of the oilcloth tablecloth and rub the spot with the match head. After the pollution disappears, the oilcloth must be lubricated with olive oil, and then wiped with a cotton swab.
Matches were invented relatively recently - at the beginning of the 19th century. Until that time, fire was produced in a different way. Instead of a box of matches, people carried in their pocket a small box containing three items: a piece of steel, a small stone, and a piece of something like a sponge. If you asked what it is, you would be told that steel is flint, a pebble is flint, and a piece of sponge is tinder.
A whole bunch of things instead of one match!
How then was fire produced?
Here sits a fat man in a motley robe, with a long pipe in his teeth. In one hand he holds a tinderbox, in the other flint and tinder. He strikes flint on flint. No result! Again. Nothing again. Again. A spark jumps out of the flint and flint, but the tinder does not light up. Finally, for the fourth or fifth time, the tinder flares up.
In fact, this is the same lighter. There is also a pebble in the lighter, there is a piece of steel - a wheel, there is also tinder - a wick soaked in gasoline.
Putting out a fire is not easy. At least when European travelers wanted to teach the Greenland Eskimo how to make fire in this way, the Eskimo refused. They considered that their old method was better: they produced fire by friction, like primitive people, by rotating a wand placed on a piece of dry wood with a belt. Self-ignition of wood occurs at 300 degrees - imagine how much effort it takes to heat a wooden stick to that temperature!
The Europeans themselves were also not averse to replacing flint and steel with something more convenient. Every now and then all kinds of "chemical flint" appeared on sale, one more wiser than the other.
So, there were matches that were lit by touching sulfuric acid. The head of such a match consisted of a mixture of sulfur, bartolet salt (KClO 3) and cinnabar. In 1813 in Vienna, Maliard and Wieck registered the first match manufactory in Austria-Hungary for the production of chemical matches. The inconvenience of this type of match is obvious: sulfuric acid, an unsafe chemical, should always be at hand.
There were matches with a glass head that had to be crushed with tongs to make the match flare; there were, finally, whole glassware of a very complex device.
In 1826, the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker invented sulfur matches, and he did it, as often happens, quite by accident. Walker was interested in ways to quickly create a fire, but without an explosion, so that this fire could slowly transfer to the tree from the flammable mixture. Once he was mixing chemicals with a stick, and a dried drop formed on the end of the stick. To remove it, he struck a stick on the floor. Fire broke out! Walker immediately appreciated the practical value of his discovery and began to experiment, and then to produce matches. There were 50 matches in one box and it cost 1 shilling. Each box came with a piece of sandpaper folded in half. Walker named his matches "Congreve" after inventor William Congreve.
On April 7, 1827, Walker made his first commercial deal: he sold the first sulfur matches to lawyer Nixon.
The heads in John Walker's matches consisted of a mixture of antimony sulfide, bartolet salt and gum arabic, a viscous substance that acacias secrete (also called gum). When such a match is rubbed against sandpaper or another rather rough surface, its head easily ignites.
Box of matches - "lucifers"
Walker's matches, having burned down, left behind a bad memory in the form of a nasty sulfur dioxide, scattered clouds of sparks around them when ignited, and were a whole yard long (about 90 cm).
Matches brought Walker neither fame nor fortune. Walker did not want to patent his invention, although many persuaded him about this, for example, Michael Faraday. But a guy named Samuel Jones, who once was present at the demonstration of "congreves", estimated the market value of the invention. He called the matches "Lucifers", and began to sell them in tons - "Lucifers" were in demand, despite all their shortcomings. These matches were packed in tin cases of 100 pieces.
This continued until, in 1830, the young French chemist Charles Soria invented phosphorus matches, which consisted of a mixture of bartholite salt, white phosphorus and glue.
Charles Sauria
Phosphorus is a substance that ignites at the slightest heating - only up to 60 degrees. It would seem that the best material for matches cannot be invented. However, this advantage of phosphorus matches turned out to be their main drawback. To light a match, it was enough to strike it against the wall or even on the top. Why strike there - such matches caught fire even from mutual friction in the box during transportation! There was even an anecdote in England: a whole match says to another, half-burnt: “You see how your bad habit of scratching the back of your head ends!”
When the match was lit, an explosion occurred. The head exploded into pieces, like a small bomb.
Much worse was the fact that matches with white phosphorus are very poisonous. The production of such matches was harmful: match factory workers from the vapors of white phosphorus acquired a severe disease - bone necrosis. Suicides of that time solved their problem very easily, simply by eating a few match heads. What can we say about the numerous poisonings with phosphorus matches due to careless handling!
Another disadvantage of the Walker and Soria matches was the ignition instability of the match handle - the burning time of the head was very short. The way out was found in the invention of phosphorus-sulfur matches, the head of which was made in two stages - first, the stalk was dipped in a mixture of sulfur, wax or stearin, a small amount of barthollet salt and glue, and then in a mixture of white phosphorus, barthollet salt and glue. A flash of phosphorus ignited a slower-burning mixture of sulfur and wax, and from it a match stalk ignited.
Phosphorus matches had one more drawback - extinguished matchsticks continued to smolder, which often led to fires. This problem was solved by impregnating the matchstick with ammonium phosphate (NH 4 H 2 PO 4). Such matches began to be called impregnated (eng. impregnated- impregnated) and later - safe. For stable burning of the cutting, they began to impregnate it with wax or stearin (later - paraffin).
In 1853, the "safe" or "Swedish" matches finally appeared, which we still use today. This became possible as a result of the discovery in 1847 of red phosphorus, which, unlike white, is not poisonous. Red phosphorus was obtained by the Austrian chemist A. Schroetter by heating white phosphorus at 500°C in a carbon monoxide (CO) atmosphere in a sealed glass ampoule. The Swedish chemist Johan Lundström applied red phosphorus to the surface of sandpaper and replaced the white phosphorus in the head of a match with it. Such matches were no longer harmful to health, they easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface and practically did not ignite spontaneously. Johan Lundström patented the first "Swedish match", which has survived to this day almost unchanged.
Johan Lundström's younger brother, Carl Frans Lundström (1823-1917) was an entrepreneur with many bold ideas. The brothers founded a match factory in Jönköping as early as 1844-1845. In the early years of its existence, the Lundström brothers' factory produced matches from yellow phosphorus. The production of safety matches began in 1853 and at the same time Carl Frans Lundström began to export matches to England.
The Lundström matches were a great success at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855, receiving a silver medal for the fact that the way they were made did not endanger the health of the workers. But due to the fact that matches were quite expensive, commercial success came to the brothers only in 1868. In the first years after its founding, the Lundström factory produced 4,400 matchboxes a year, and in 1896 there were already seven million of them! So the Swedish match conquered the whole world.
References:
1. M. Ilyin. "Stories of Things"
2.Wikipedia.org
3. tekniskamuseet.se
Today we are talking about ordinary matches. So simple, it would seem, but people have been going to their current form for a very long time. Before the advent of matches, people were forced to find all sorts of ways to make fire. The main thing has long been the friction of the tree against each other, with prolonged work, fire appeared. It was also possible to ignite dry grass or paper with a sunbeam through a kind of lens or glass, to knock out sparks with silicon or other similar stones. Then it was important to keep the fire and keep it going. For this, pieces of coal were often used.
The world's first matches - macanque matches
And only at the end of the 18th century everything changed. Claude Berthollet, a French chemist, as a result of experiments, obtained a substance that was later named Berthollet salt in his honor. As a result, in 1805 in Europe, people saw the so-called “dunk” matches. These were thin torches with heads that were smeared with bartholite salt. They were lit after being dipped in a solution of concentrated sulfuric acid.
Matches with Berthollet salt made at the factory
But the first real matches that did not require dipping appeared thanks to the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker. In 1827, he found that if a mixture of antimony sulfide, bartholite salt and gum arabic is applied to the tip of a wooden stick, and then the stick is dried in air, then when such a resulting match is rubbed against sandpaper, it easily ignites. That is, it was no longer necessary to carry a bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid with you (just imagine). D. Walker created a small factory for the production of his matches. He packed them in tin cases of 100 each. Such matches also had a significant drawback, they smelled very bad. The improvement of matches began.
In 1830, 19-year-old French chemist Charles Soria invented phosphorus matches. Their combustible part contained bartholite salt, phosphorus and glue. These matches were very convenient: friction on almost any hard surface, even the sole of a shoe, was enough for them to ignite. Soria's matches were odorless, but not everything went smoothly. The fact is that these matches were unhealthy, because white phosphorus is a poison.
Matches take on a modern look
Later, in 1855, another chemist, Johan Lundstrom from Sweden, decided to use red phosphorus. He applied it to the surface of sandpaper, but placed it on a small box, and then introduced red phosphorus from the composition and head of the match. It is safe for humans and the problem has been solved.
The appearance of the matchbox
And in 1889, Joshua Pucey came up with the familiar matchbox for all of us. But his invention was a little unusual for us: the incendiary surface was located inside the box. Therefore, the American firm Diamond Match Company managed to patent the box, which placed such a surface on the outside, which was undoubtedly much more convenient.
As for us, phosphorus matches were first brought to Russia from Europe in 1836, the price for them was one ruble silver per hundred, which was then relatively expensive. And the first Russian match factory was established in St. Petersburg in 1837.
Ever since Prometheus gave fire to people, humanity has faced the task of extracting the received gift exactly when it is needed. In ancient times, this task was solved by patiently rubbing dry pieces of wood against each other, and later by flint flint. Then splinters coated with gray appeared, but not yet as a means of making fire, but only as kindling - fire was needed to ignite them. The first mention of such chips dates back to the 10th century (China). However, primitive matches ignited from the slightest spark, and it was so convenient for lighting lamps that the Chinese poet Tao Gu called them "light-bearing servants" in his book.
The history of matches as a means of making fire began with the discovery of phosphorus in 1669 by the alchemist Brandt. In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (the same one after whom the Boyle-Mariotte law is named) covered a strip of paper with phosphorus and, striking it with a wooden match with a sulfur head, got fire ... but did not attach any importance to this. As a result, the invention of matches was delayed by more than a century - until 1805, when the French chemist Jean Chancel proposed his version of a match with a head made from a mixture of sulfur, potassium chloride and sugar. The kit included a bottle of sulfuric acid, where matches had to be dipped to light them.
Until recently, a box of matches was an absolutely necessary item in every home without exception.
In 1826, British apothecary John Walker invented the first friction-ignited matches. He made a match head from a mixture of sulfur, potassium chlorate, sugar and antimony sulfide, and ignited it by striking on sandpaper. True, Walker's matches burned unsteadily, scattering the burning mixture, which often led to fires, and therefore their sale was banned in France and Germany. And in 1830, the French chemist Charles Sauria replaced antimony sulfide with white phosphorus.
Such matches burned perfectly, ignited with one movement of the head on any rough surface, but ... the smell of white phosphorus burning and splashing around was terrible. In addition, white phosphorus turned out to be very toxic - "phosphorus necrosis" quickly became an occupational disease of match factory workers. A single pack of matches at that time contained a lethal dose of white phosphorus, and suicide by swallowed match heads became common.
A replacement for the toxic and flammable white phosphorus has not been easy to find. This was done by the Swedish chemist Gustav Erik Pasch, who in 1844 realized one simple thing: if a match ignites when sulfur and phosphorus come into mechanical contact, it is not at all necessary to place phosphorus in the match head - just put it on a rough surface that is being struck! This decision, together with the discovery of red phosphorus (which, unlike white, does not ignite in air and is much less toxic), came to the rescue just in time, and formed the basis of the first truly safe matches. And in 1845, two other Swedes - the brothers Johan and Karl Lundström - founded a company that made safety matches a mass product, and the name "Swedish matches" - a household name.
Matches can be attributed to relatively recent inventions. Before the modern match flared up in human hands, a wide variety of discoveries took place, each of which made its significant contribution to the evolutionary path of this subject. When were the matches? By whom were they created? What path of formation did you overcome? Where were matches first invented? And what facts are still hidden by history?
The meaning of fire in human life
Since ancient times, fire has been given an honorable place in the daily life of a person. He played an important role in our development. Fire is one of the elements of the universe. For ancient people, it was a phenomenon, and its practical application was not even suspected. The ancient Greeks, for example, protected fire as a shrine, passing it on to people.
But cultural development did not stand still, and people learned not only to use fire properly, but also to produce it on their own. Thanks to the bright flame, the dwellings became warm all year round, the food received heat treatment and became tastier, the smelting of iron, copper, gold and silver began to develop actively. The first dishes made of clay and ceramics also owe their appearance to fire.
The first fire - what is it?
As you already understood, for the first time fire was produced by man many millennia ago. How did our ancestors do it? Simple enough: they took two pieces of wood and began to rub them, while the wood pollen and sawdust were heated to such an extent that spontaneous combustion was inevitable.
The "wood" fire was replaced by a flint and flint. It is a spark produced by striking steel or flint. Then these sparks were ignited with some combustible substance, and the same famous flint and flint was obtained - a lighter in its original form. It turns out that the lighter was invented before matches. Their birthdays were three years apart.
Also, the ancient Greeks and Romans knew another way to produce fire - by focusing the sun's rays with a lens or a concave mirror.
In 1823, a new device was invented - the Deberyer incendiary apparatus. Its principle of operation was based on the use of the ability to ignite upon contact with spongy platinum. So after all, when were modern matches invented? Let's look at this issue in more detail.
A significant contribution to the invention of modern matches was made by the German scientist A. Hankvatts. Thanks to his ingenuity, matches with a sulfur coating appeared for the first time, which was ignited by rubbing against a piece of phosphorus. The form of such matches was extremely inconvenient and required rapid improvement.
Origin of the word "match"
Before we figure out who invented matches, let's find out the meaning of this concept and its origin.
The word "match" has old Russian roots. Its predecessor is the word "knitting needle" - a stick with a pointed end, a splinter.
Initially, needles were called nails made of wood, the main purpose of which was to attach the sole to the shoe.
The history of the formation of a modern match
When modern matches were invented is a rather controversial moment. This is explained by the fact that until the second half of the 19th century there was no International as such, and various European countries were the basis of various chemical discoveries at the same time.
The question of who invented matches is much clearer. The history of their appearance owes its beginning to the French chemist C. L. Berthollet. His key discovery is salt, which, when in contact with sulfuric acid, releases enormous amounts of heat. Subsequently, this discovery became the basis of the scientific activity of Jean Chancel, thanks to whose work the first matches were invented - a wooden stick, the tip of which was coated with a mixture of Berthollet salt, sulfur, sugar and resin. Such a device was ignited by pressing the match head against asbestos, which had been previously impregnated with a concentrated solution of sulfuric acid.
Sulfur matches
John Walker became their inventor. He slightly changed the components of the match head: + gum + antimony sulfide. To set fire to such matches, interaction with sulfuric acid was not necessary. These were dry sticks, for the ignition of which it was enough to strike on some rough surface: paper with an emery coating, a grater, crushed glass. The length of the matches was 91 cm, and their packaging was a special pencil case, in which 100 pieces can be placed. They smelled terrible. They were first produced in 1826.
Phosphorus matches
In what year were phosphorus matches invented? Perhaps it is worth linking their appearance with 1831, when the French chemist Charles Soria added to the incendiary mixture. Thus, the components of the match head included Berthollet salt, glue, and white phosphorus. Any amount of friction was enough to light the improved match.
The main disadvantage was the high degree of fire hazard. One of the shortcomings of sulfur matches was eliminated - an unbearable smell. But they were harmful to health due to the release of phosphorus fumes. Employees of enterprises and factories were exposed to serious diseases. Given the latter, in 1906 it was forbidden to use phosphorus as one of the constituent components of the match.
Swedish matches
Swedish products are nothing more than modern matches. The year of their invention came 50 years after the very first match saw the light. Instead of phosphorus, red phosphorus was included in the incendiary mixture. A similar composition, based on red phosphorus, was also used to cover the side surface of the box. Such matches caught fire only when interacting with the phosphorus coating of their containers. They did not pose any danger to human health and were fireproof. The Swedish chemist Johan Lundström is considered the creator of modern matches.
In 1855, the Paris International Exhibition took place, at which Swedish matches were given the highest award. A little later, phosphorus was completely excluded from the components of the incendiary mixture, but it has remained on the surface of the box to this day.
In the manufacture of modern matches, as a rule, aspen is used. The composition of the incendiary mass includes sulfur sulfides, metal paraffins, oxidizing agents, manganese dioxide, glue, glass powder. In the manufacture of the coating for the sides of the box, red phosphorus, antimony sulfide, iron oxide, manganese dioxide, calcium carbonate are used.
You will be interested!
The first match container was not a cardboard box at all, but a metal box-chest. There was no label, and the name of the manufacturer was indicated on the stamp, which was placed on the lid or on the side of the package.
The first phosphorus matches could be ignited by friction. At the same time, absolutely any surface was suitable: from clothes to the match container itself.
A matchbox made according to Russian state standards is exactly 5 centimeters long, so it can be used to accurately measure objects.
A match is often used as a determinant of the overall characteristics of various objects, which can only be seen in a photograph.
The indicators of the dynamics of the production turnover of matches in the world are 30 billion boxes per year.
There are several types of matches: gas, decorative, fireplace, signal, thermal, photographic, household, hunting.
Matchbox advertising
When modern matches were invented, at the same time a special container for them - boxes - came into active use. Who would have thought that this would become one of the promising marketing moves of that time. Advertisements were depicted on such packages. The first commercial advertisement on a box of matches was created in America by the Diamond Match Company in 1895, which advertised the Mendelson Opera Company comic troupe. On the visible part of the box was a picture of their trombonist. By the way, the last remaining promotional matchbox made at that time was sold just recently for $25,000.
The idea of advertising on a matchbox was accepted with a bang and became widespread in the business field. Milwaukee's Pabst Brewery, King Duke Tobacco Products, and Wrigley's Chewing Gum were advertised using matchboxes. Looking through the boxes, getting to know the stars, national celebrities, athletes, etc.
