Promethean Matches - The Ancestor to Modern Matches

In this video we make the ancestor to modern matches before phosphorus: The Promethean Match

The operating principle is that sulfuric acid would react with potassium chlorate and sugar to catch fire. So to turn it into a match, the sulfuric acid was stored in a glass capsule that was broken and mixed with potassium chlorate and sugar. This would ignite and set fire to the paper roll it was packaged in.

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[NurdRage]

Merry Christmas, and have a happy new year. May we one day have peace on earth. See you all next year, in a couple of weeks.

[cybercat]

I volunteer at a local Museum and we would occasionally find these among donated collections or sets of old household items that got donated.
People usually didn't know what they were and kept them lying around in a drawer of arts and crafts or christmas decorations.
A few went off spontaneously from thermal expansion and cracking of the glass ampule over time too.
Always made for a fun surprise :D

[FutureAIDev]

The sound they make when they ignite is really satisfying, it's like a solid rocket igniter.

[firstmkb]

I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a visceral reaction to a YouTube video as when your first one ignited with such “enthusiasm!”

For anyone else, cotton t-shirts do not count as protection against acid, but they do detect it well when washed later.

[Enjoymentboy]

This is awesome!!!! I KNEW I had seen these things somewhere a very long time ago but whenever i mentioned then people either said there was no way or just looked at me like i was crazy. I had no idea what they were called so no way to search for them. Thank you for putting this to rest for me. 😊😊😊

[larrybud]

Whoah whoah whoah, you had me at "fire" And Finally, a good use for paper straws!

[Thing.Appreciator]

So thats what these are! I remember reading a book a long time ago and they were mentioning something called "Lucifer matches" that involved breaking glass, and I've always wondered what those were and if it was something the author made up or not. Cool, thanks Mr Nurd!

[daywonda]

One of the best vids you have done showing ordinary everyday chem. - GREAT TO SEE YOU BACK.

[pattheplanter]

Charles Darwin describing the voyage of the Beagle, 1839: "I carried with me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting." Occupational safety was different then.

[homeopathicfossil-fuels]

This is actually quite cool however hazardous it is, I wonder if they were ever used to ignite rocket artillery, like as a tail on the fuse or something.
Thanks for still being you and still uploading here after all these years, you taught me a bunch about how to avoid dying.

[garbleduser]

I'm so glad you liked my suggestion for the video! Thank you so very much! I wish a Merry Christmas to you and all of your loved ones :-)

[aga]

Brilliant topic !
Nurdy is Back and in Full Effect !

[petevenuti]

Finally something paper straws might be useful for!

[icebluscorpion]

Glycerine and sodium permanganate would do the trick as well and would be safer to use. Also drenching the paper straws with wax would be better as well to have a decent burn time like a match

[KnightsWithoutATable]

Alchemical matches from D&D should work like these, including the failures and the skill, risk, and/or tools needed for use.

[SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans]

These old matches were noisy (what with breaking glass and violently flaring chemical mixtures), and the newer kind that replaced them were sometimes known as silent matches. Gilbert and Sullivan wrote about the newer matches in the number "With Cat-Like Tread" in the operetta "The Pirates of Penzance." They were the appropriate thing to quietly light the candle inside the "dark lantern" (which had a shutter to let out light only at the proper time). The number itself was a roaring ironic farce, with the pirates on stage making as much noise as possible in spite of singing about stealth in their new pursuit of "burglaree." Anyhow, this is something about historical context. People preferred a tamer flame once it became possible. Perhaps NurdRage could trace the further development of the match. I believe there were several steps in that development, including those for safety sake (red phosphorus instead of white, and strike-on-box). The first striking matches, using white phosphorus, were hazardous to the employees who produced them, and the reticence to move to the safer but costlier red phosphorus and then phosphorus sesquisulphide (?) was a result of cold business practices.

[ketv]

Cool video! I didn't know what chemistry was involved in Promethean matches; I would have guessed permanganate and something organic.

Sulphur matches were extremely common in the 19th century. They didn't strike - they caught the spark from the flint.

On the trail, I still light fires with flint and steel (or rather, ferrocerium). Unlike a match or lighter, they work even when wet, and I can strike a spark even when shivering uncontrollably. My tinder - dryer lint or cotton balls and petroleum jelly - also works when wet - or rather, doesn't get wet because water won't wet it. I have fallen in a river in near-freezing temperatures at least once, so the performance of this system has been confirmed experimentally. In other words, I'm still here to post this.

[chemistryofquestionablequa]

Sugar and chlorate in the right proportion tends to detonate as you found out. Glad it was very localized and didn’t propagate through the rest of the mixture. Glycerine/permanganate or glycerine/calcium hypochlorite would also work.

[ms]

Thank you for the history lesson. Really neat demonstration. 👍

[giuliorossi]

That little jumpscared jiggle- dude's adorable