|
|
| |
|
|
The Invention of
Matches
|
 |
|
|
The two basic
needs for survival - food and suitable temperature
- were the reasons behind inventing matches. Keeping warm and
eating good food was not entirely possible without fire so the
cave man created a method of starting up a fire - by
striking a spark from a flint and placing it close to a bundle
of dry leaves. This was the simplest method.
Thousands of years later, the Romans used a similar technique
- two flint stones were struck together and the spark was
caught on a wood split covered with a little sulphur.
The sulphur helped the reaction speed up.
During the
Middle Ages, the material on which the sparks (struck by flint
and steel) were caught became more varied - charred
rags, dried moss or fungus. These materials or any
substance that catches fire quickly is called 'tinder.'
With the modern times, the matches too became more powerful as
phosphorous was used - a substance that catches fire at
relatively low temperatures. |
|
|
|
Cave man creating a fire by striking a spark from a flint |
|
It was in 1681 that an English
scientist named Robert Boyle was experimenting with
match making, when he dipped a sliver of wool (that had been
treated/soaked in sulphur) into a mixture of sulphur
and phosphorous. Naturally the wool caught fire but
it was so rapid that those matches did not seem practical.
|
|
| |
|
A druggist,
John Walker, in England, first created such
practical matches in 1827. To light the
matches, they had to be drawn between folds of paper that
covered by ground glass. These worked well, but by 1833
Austrians and Germans were making matches with
phosphorous-tips that only needed friction to be ignited. They
were slightly problematic and were forbidden later on by an
international treaty in 1906. |
 |
| |
Match invented by John Walker |
| |
|
|
Finally, there
was the introduction of non-poisonous red phosphorous that
helped manufacture safety matches.
Safety matches implied that they would only light (or ignite)
when in the contact of a prepared surface; on their
own the matches would be harmless. These were made in Sweden
in 1844 by a chemist, Gustave E. Pasch, and
instead of placing all the necessary chemicals on the
match-head itself, another surface called the 'striking
surface' was created. This surface is the reddish-grey area on
the match box or container. This is actually red phosphorous
painted on the box. Only when the matchstick is struck against
the surface, will the match light up. |
 |
| |
Safety Match |
Matches are
definitely very useful items but more importantly, they are
DANGEROUS! It is exciting to see a match light up but no
matter how old we are, we always should be careful while using them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|