Viggen - 11-12-2002 at 11:06
1. dumb question... is there sulphur on matches?
If not... is there some way I can get sulphur without buying it from the drugstore or a place like that (where I guess its 18 years limit on buying
it).
I dont need so much of it, so it would be pretty useless to buy just a few gram in a store.
lucifer - 11-12-2002 at 12:23
Most matches contain about 5-10% sulfur, some don’t.
Sulfur is also used for roses to protect them from mildew.
So you might find it in a gardening shop.
Mongo Blongo - 11-12-2002 at 16:52
I don't think they would contain elemental sulfur because they also contain KClO3 which would not be a safe combination.
Syanide - 11-12-2002 at 21:10
As lucifer stated, you can buy sulfur at gardening shops under the name of sulfur dust.
Viggen - 11-12-2002 at 22:28
Thank you
Nice to know else I would buy alot of matches today
But one thing... matches from older times. Those which you could ignit by scrapping more or less anywhere... that was sulphur right?
Polverone - 11-12-2002 at 22:38
Nope, you're wrong there too :-) I can still buy those matches, "strike-anywhere" matches. Are they no longer found in your area? I don't know of any
matches that contain elemental sulfur. Everybody who's telling you to buy agricultural sulfur is completely correct: it is quite pure enough for
pyrotechnics and much amateur chemistry, plus it is inexpensive and already finely powdered.
Viggen - 12-12-2002 at 06:02
Oh... I rem when I was 5... my dad told about when he was a kid and then they had such matches
I thought they were long gone everywhere But im
in Norway and we got laws and taxes for everything here
Marvin - 17-12-2002 at 03:52
I dont think any matches in common use have antimony sulphide in them, though strike mixtures in pyrotechnics books use it a lot.
Strike anywhere matches usually use phosphorous sesqisulphide and an oxidiser mixture on the head. Safety matches use a chlorate oxidiser mixture
with some fuel on the head, and a red phosphorous mixture on the packet.
Anarchist - 22-12-2002 at 18:27
Strike anywhere matches do contain sulfur. The match head is armstrongs mixture I think. Sulfur, Red Phosphorous, and KClO3. It wouldn't really be
that dangers considering the small quantity, and they are made specifically to be very volatile so you can "strike them anywhere".
nope
Polverone - 23-12-2002 at 14:57
Wrong. Matchheads don't contain Armstrong's mixture or any elemental phosphorus. Marvin nailed it.
lucifer - 24-12-2002 at 06:20
Could the phosphorus be extracted from the packet with CS2 ?
Rhadon - 24-12-2002 at 09:17
Yes, the phosphorus will dissolve in CS2. But you'll need many matchboxes to get a respectable amount of your desired product.
Anarchist - 25-12-2002 at 21:45
I think the problem is that we are all buying different brands of matches. Give us a brand name, then we can tell you far more accurately whats in
it( or you could just read the label).
phosphorus extraction
Polverone - 25-12-2002 at 22:58
Carbon disulfide won't dissolve red phosphorus to an appreciable degree, only white phosphorus. Register at http://www.the-hive.ws and look in the "stimulants" forum for many, many discussions of the extraction of red phosphorus from match striking
strips. Almost every conceivable aspect is covered in mind-numbing detail.
Rhadon - 26-12-2002 at 07:36
Oh yes, Polverone is right with the bad solubility of red P in CS2. I didn't differentiate between red and white phosphorus.
forundretfrede - 21-2-2003 at 02:55
you can isolate a little bit of WP from the striking strips by scraping them with a knive and placing the powder in a test tube. Put a little piece of
glasswool in the middle of the tube and heat the end with the powder gently. The red phosphorus will thus change to the white modification, sublimate
and recondese in the glass wool. Its not much, but enough to make it smoke when exposed to air and give a nice glow-in-the-dark effect.
Please note, that while red phosporus is rather harmless, WP i VERY toxic.
In the nasty old days little sticks dipped in molten sulphur were used to get a flame from smouldering tinder (ref. Andersen H. C. et al ;-)
Elemental sulphur is very cheap in garden centers, så why worry about synthesis?
I am a fish - 21-2-2003 at 15:13
Sulphur can also be bought from witchcraft/occult/magick suppliers (sometimes under its traditional name, brimstone).
Today I managed to buy several useful reagents (including ammonium nitrate, which is difficult to obtain in the UK), from a mail order company called
Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Chris
a_bab - 1-3-2003 at 05:12
Man, that was expensive ! 2 pounds for 30 g of NH4OH ?!
I am a fish - 1-3-2003 at 11:41
I know it's expensive. 
However I'm not that into pyrotechnics and so
don't require large quantities of nitrates. I'd rather pay 2 pounds for a small amount (which in fact turned out to be more than 30g) than
pay far more for an agricultural sized sack that I'm never going to use.
AN source
forundretfrede - 7-3-2003 at 04:12
A very nice and relatively cheap source of AN is from "chemical cold packs". They contain approx. 200g of AN and a little bag of water, and
wil cost you around 2 euro..... thats not bad!
(NOTE: there are two types of coldpacks, the other contain urea an a bag of water)
Cappy - 8-4-2003 at 16:54
You wouldn't happen to know which brands use which, would you? Or maybe there are easily distinguishable physical characteristics/properties.
One thing that bugs me is when chemicals/ingredients aren't labeled. Are ingredients listed on instant cold packs?