Lighting metal fires (and putting them out??)

This brings back memories. When I was a kid I obtained a stack of dead chainsaws. Many chainsaws use magnesium alloy castings. I also had a big ass kerosene burner. I can confirm magnesium alloy burns quite well, especially when water is added. The mysterious white light that lit up the neighbourhood late one night was of course nothing to do with me.

Oxy acetylene torch is my go to for burning Metal. A stick welder might do it.

I love how the best we have for Class D fires is literally just really dry popcorn salt.

I've been a fire warden (on and off) for around 30 of the last 45 years of my working life and like you, have never seen a metal fire or what it is that you use to put one out. Well done on demonstrating and explaining this. BTW, I have worked on a chemical site where we had enormous tanks of Ethylene Oxide and one trick the site's fire brigade used to do on the course they ran was to have an oil tray (a tray around 3m deep but the size of a door laying down) and put some EO in it then set fire to it. Then, they would get one of us lab-rats to put it out using a foam extinguisher and it would appear to go our. After talking to us about it for a minute or two, he would get a long metal rod and push the foam to one side and flames would appear - was not pyrophoric, it just carried on burning in its own atmosphere. The foam had done nothing more than shelter it from the wind. Good luck with completing your thesis - making videos is a substitute activity that benefits the rest of mankind.

In my aircraft fabricator job we used to collect titanium chips from all the precision rivets that we messed up and had to drill out, then light them on fire outside of the building during lunch break. Great deal of fun, surprised that the building never caught on fire

Best way to ignite bulk titanium: find a friend with an acetylene or oxyhydrogen torch and go nuts on it!

This is some advanced level procrastination. I’m impressed.

I served 6 years in the US Navy and when I got to the USS Stennis, we had an entire safety course on class D fires. The answer was always push the aircraft overboard.

When I was a teenager we bought some bootleg unmarked fireworks that must have been filled with Magnesium powder or something. We lit it, ran away, and then were all instantly blinded by this horrific white light because it was nighttime, and I distinctly remember seeing shadows on our neighbors house across the field that was like 300 feet away. When it burned out it had left a divot in the 1/4" steel plate we'd set it on, truly terrifying

Well, all Titanium fires I have heard of, involve a lathe or a mill in some way. I think this has to do with the fresh, not oxidised surfaces of freshly cut titanium and the thin cross section of the chips.

11:34 Notice that Tom is wearing what appears to be darkened goggles. This is because magnesium fires put out so much UV light that they can singe unprotected eyeballs and cause a condition known as "arc eye", and after long-term exposure, cataracts.

Some kids in a club at my high school were trying to ignite aluminum foil on fire with batteries in the hallway, so the teacher (who was a chemistry teacher) thought it was a good idea to give them a few matches and some strips of magnesium metal to ignite outside as an alternative instead. It did not go well.

What will come first ? The robot apocalypse or you finishing your PhD ?

This is the best chemistry channel on YouTube, not for consistent uploads, not the generally good chemistry but just for comedic value. It's always a fun time watching these.

i particularly enjoy the budget floodfilling on the periodic table at 1:12

I work in fire protection and do work for some of the biggest chemical production facilities in the world and honestly all of those elements (besides the silly made up group) are a real hazard for everyone on these sites from a day to day. One facility i go to has around 9 fires a month due to the nature of production. Kinda crazy to be around all that shit all the time. Also the silica in fire extinguishers is under investigation for a ban because of the potential "long term effects on your health similar to asbestos"

"You legally cant correct me on it" Ask War Thunder players how much they care about that.

Congratulations on getting slightly closer to completing the thesis since last time !!

A cadmium fire sounds like a full on nightmare

The slo-mo of spraying water on it was awesome! The drops of water appear to instantly turn into drops of fire! Would've liked to see a fine mist of water, also.