Question

Anyone know much about thermite?

Answer 1

The thermite is simply a mixture of metals, often one is called the "fuel" and the other oxidizer. A thermite reaction refers to a very exothermic oxidation-reduction reaction occurring between a metal Oxide and a more active pure metal. The more reactive metal reduces the metal Oxide, gets oxidized itself and this reaction releases a substantial amount of energy during the reaction.
Generally, thermite is made by mixing Iron Oxide and Aluminum powder and igniting it at very high temperatures (a few thousand degrees). The reaction releases so much energy, molten Iron metal is produced as one of the products.
The two most common types of thermite are made using either Iron(III) Oxide, Fe2O3 (also known as Hematite), or using Iron(II, III) Oxide, Fe3O4 (also known as Magnetite). The Iron Oxide is mixed with finely powdered Aluminum metal. When the thermite reacts, liquid Iron metal and Aluminum Oxide, Al2O3, is produced as a result.
Thermites can be a diverse class of compositions. Some "fuels" that can be used include aluminium, magnesium, calcium, titanium, zinc, silicon, and boron and others. One commonly-used fuel in thermite mixtures is aluminium, because of its high boiling point. The oxidizers can be boron(III) oxide, silicon(IV) oxide, chromium(III) oxide, manganese(IV) oxide, iron(III) oxide, iron(II,III) oxide, copper(II) oxide, and lead(II,III,IV) oxide and others.

Answer 2

Some videos to show how explosive the reaction can be..

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thermite&aq=f