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>(b) plunge a big copper soldering iron, overheated so it was glowing, into
>a large dish of petrol. Of course it boiled off very quickly but did NOT
>ignite, much to the amazement of the students who were usually trying to
>back away quickly by this time! Great care was taken to insure that the
>soldering iron was very clean, with no sooty particles adhering, as these
>could easily have been well above the ignition temperature. (lots of
>energy, but a relatively low temperature)
>
>Despite that pedantic observation - your advice is worthwhile following
>and certainly errs on the side of safety!
>Rowland
Hard to believe, Rowland but true nevertheless. However, it is worth noting
that if the same experiment is performed with oil ignition will occur, so I
have been told. This is presumably the reason that oil fires are considered
to be worse than fuel fires.
Graham
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