Chemistry of Making Fire
Most people would use a lighter or a
match to start a fire.
Matches allow for a portable, easy-to-use source of fire. Many chemical reactions generate heat and fire, but matches are a fairly recent invention. Matches are also an invention you probably wouldn't choose to duplicate if civilization ended today or you were stranded on a desert island. The chemicals involved in modern matches are generally safe, but that wasn't always the case:
1669 Brand was an Hamburg alchemist who discovered
phosphorus during his attempts to turn base metals into gold. He allowed a vat of urine to stand until it purified.
He boiled the resulting liquid down to a paste, which he heated to a high temperature, so that the vapors could be drawn into water and condensed into gold. Brand didn't get gold, but he did obtain a waxy
white substance that glowed in the dark. This was phosphorus, one of the first elements to be isolated other than those which exist free in nature. Evaporating urine produced ammonium
sodium hydrogenphosphate (microcosmic salt), which yielded sodium phosphite upon heating. When heated with carbon (charcoal) this decomposed into white phosphorus and sodium pyrophosphate:
(NH4)NaHPO4 —› NaPO3 + NH3 + H2O
8NaPO3 + 10C —› 2Na4P2O7 + 10CO + P4
1680 Boyle coated a piece of paper with phosphorus, with a separate splinter of sulfur-coated wood. When the wood was drawn through the paper, it would burst into flame. Phosphorus was difficult to obtain at that time, so the invention was only a curiosity. Boyle's method of isolating phosphorus was more efficient than Brand's:
4NaPO3 + 2SiO2 + 10C —› 2Na2SiO3 + 10CO + P4
1826/1827 Walker serendipitously discovered a friction match made from antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch, resulting from a dried blob on the end of a stick
used to stir a chemical mixture. Samuel Jones saw the demonstration and started to produce 'Lucifers'. Lucifers reportedly could ignite explosively, sometimes throwing sparks at a considerable distance. They were known to have a strong 'firework' odor.
1830 Sauria reformulated the match using white phosphorus, which eliminated the strong odor. However, the phosphorus was deadly. Many people developed a disorder known as 'phossy jaw'. Children who sucked on matches developed skeletal deformities. Phosphorus factory workers got bones diseases. One pack of matches contained enough phosphorus to kill a person.
1892 Pusey invented the matchbook, however, he placed the striking surface on the inside of the book so that all 50 matches would ignite at once. The Diamond Match Company later purchased Pusey's patent and moved the striking surface to the exterior of the packaging.
1910
With a worldwide push to ban the use of white phosphorus matches, the Diamond Match Company got a patent for a non-poisonous match which used sesquisulfide of phophorous.
Present Day Butane lighters have largely replaced matches in many part of the world, however matches are still made and used.
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