Modern matches. Bullshit

History of matches

Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced flint and steel about two centuries ago, when looms were already working, trains and steamships were running. But only in 1844 was the creation announced safety matches.

Discovery of phosphorus

In 1669, the alchemist Henning Brand, trying to create philosopher's stone, obtained by evaporating a mixture of sand and urine a substance that glows in the dark, later called phosphorus. The next step in the history of the invention of the match was taken by the English physicist and chemist Robert Boyle (co-author of the Boyle-Mariotte law) and his assistant Gottfried Hauckweitz: they coated paper with phosphorus and ran a wood chip coated with sulfur over it.

Incendiary machines

Between matches and flint, there were several inventions for receiving fire, in particular, Döbereiner's incendiary apparatus, created in 1823 and based on the property of detonating gas to ignite in the presence of small platinum filings.

History of inventions and discoveries in chemistry in late XVIII - early XIX centuries, leading to the invention various types matches, quite confusing. International patent law did not yet exist; European countries often challenged each other’s primacy in many projects, and various inventions and discoveries appeared almost simultaneously in different countries. Therefore, it makes sense to talk only about the industrial (manufacturing) production of matches.

He made the first matches in 1805 French chemist Chancel. These were wooden matches that were lit when the head of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet salt and cinnabar came into contact with concentrated sulfuric acid.. In 1813, the first match factory in Austria-Hungary, Mahliard and Wik, was registered in Vienna for the production of chemical matches. By the time the production of sulfur matches began (1826) by the English chemist and apothecary John Walker. John Walker) chemical matches were already quite widespread in Europe (Charles Darwin used a version of such a match, biting through the glass of a flask with acid and risking getting burned).

The heads in John Walker's matches consisted of a mixture of antimony sulfide, berthollet salt and gum arabic (gum - a viscous liquid secreted by acacia). When such a match is rubbed against sandpaper (grater) or another fairly rough surface, its head easily ignites.

Walker's matches were a yard long. They were packed in tin pencil cases100 pieces each, however big money Walker did not make any money from his invention. In addition, these matches had a terrible smell. Later, smaller matches began to go on sale.

In 1830, 19-year-old French chemist Charles Soria invented phosphorus matches, consisting of a mixture of Bertholet salt, white phosphorus and glue. These matches were very flammable, since they caught fire even from mutual friction in the box and when rubbing against any hard surface, for example, the sole of a boot (how can one not recall the hero Charlie Chaplin, who lit a match on his own pants). At that time I was walking English joke, in which a whole match says to another, half-burnt one: “See how your bad habit of scratching your head ends!” Soria's matches had no odor, but were harmful to health because white phosphorus very poisonous, which was used by many suicides to take their own lives.

The main disadvantage of the Walker and Soria matches was the instability of the ignition of the match handle - the burning time of the head was very short. A solution was found in the invention of phosphorus-sulfur matches, the head of which was made in two stages - first, the handle was dipped in a mixture of sulfur, wax or stearin, without large quantity berthollet salt and glue, and then into a mixture of white phosphorus, berthollet salt and glue. A flash of phosphorus ignited a slower-burning mixture of sulfur and wax, which ignited the handle of the match.

These matches remained dangerous not only in production, but also in use - extinguished match handles continued to smolder, leading to frequent fires. This problem was solved by impregnating the handle of the match with ammonium phosphate (NH 4 H 2 PO 4). Such matches became known as impregnated(English) impregnated- soaked) or, later, safe. To ensure stable burning of the cuttings, they began to impregnate it with wax or stearin (later - paraffin).

In 1855, Swedish chemist Johan Lundström applied red phosphorus to the surface of sandpaper and replaced white phosphorus in the head of a match. Such matches no longer caused harm to health, were easily lit on a pre-prepared surface and practically did not spontaneously ignite. Johan Lundström patents the first “Swedish match”, which has survived almost to this day. In 1855, Lundström's matches were awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. Later, phosphorus was completely removed from the composition of match heads and remained only in the composition of the spread (grater).

With the development of the production of “Swedish” matches, the production of matches using white phosphorus was banned in almost all countries. Before the invention of sesquisulfide matches, limited production of white phosphorus matches remained only in England, Canada and the USA, mainly for military purposes, and also (until 1925) in some Asian countries. In 1906, the international Berne Convention was adopted, prohibiting the use of white phosphorus in the production of matches. By 1910, the production of phosphorus matches in Europe and America had completely ceased.

Sesquisulfide matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen. They are produced mainly in English speaking countries, mainly for army needs. The basis of the rather complex composition of the head is non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide (P 4 S 3) and Berthollet salt.

IN late XIX century, the match business turned into a Swedish " national species sport". In 1876, 38 match factories were built, and in total 121 factories were operating. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, almost all of them either went bankrupt or merged into large concerns.

Currently, matches manufactured in most European countries, do not contain sulfur and chlorine compounds - paraffins and chlorine-free oxidizing agents are used instead.

Device

The mass of a match head consists of 60% berthollet salt, as well as flammable substances - sulfur or metal sulfides. In order for the head to ignite slowly and evenly, without an explosion, so-called fillers are added to the mass - glass powder or iron oxide. The binding material is glue. The main component of the grater coating is red phosphorus. Manganese oxide, crushed glass and glue are added to it. When the head rubs against the skin at the point of their contact, red phosphorus ignites due to the oxygen of the Berthollet salt, that is, the fire initially arises in the skin and ignites the head of the match. Sulfur or sulfide flares up in it, again due to the oxygen of Berthollet salt. And then the tree catches fire.

Manufacturing

Matches are manufactured in accordance with GOST 1820-2001. To avoid smoldering, the match straw is impregnated with a 1.5% solution of orthophosphoric acid and then paraffinized (by dipping in molten paraffin).

Composition of the match head: Berthollet salt - 46.5%, chromium - 1.5%, sulfur - 4.2%, red lead - 15.3%, zinc white - 3.8%, ground glass - 17.2%, glue bone - 11.5%.

Composition of the “grater”: red phosphorus - 30.8%, antimony trisulfide - 41.8%, red lead - 12.8%, chalk - 2.6%, zinc white - 1.5%, ground glass - 3.8% , bone glue - 6.7%.

Everyone has matches - this is the most affordable thing that you can buy, and which is always required.

In what ways did people make fire before the advent of matches? They rubbed wooden surfaces against each other, knocked out a spark with silicon, tried to catch a ray of sunlight through a piece of glass. And when they managed to do this, they carefully maintained the burning coals in clay pots.

And only at the end of the 18th century did life become easier - the French chemist Claude Berthollet experimentally obtained a substance that was later called Berthollet salt.

Thus, in Europe in 1805, “dummy” matches appeared - thin splinters with heads lubricated with Berthollet salt, which were lit after dipping them in a solution of concentrated sulfuric acid.

The world owes the invention of the first “dry” matches to the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker. In 1827, he discovered that if a mixture of antimony sulfide, berthollet salt and gum arabic (this is a viscous liquid secreted by acacia) is applied to the tip of a wooden stick, and then the whole thing is dried in air, then when such a match is rubbed on sandpaper, it The head ignites quite easily.

Consequently, there is no need to carry a bottle of sulfuric acid with you. Walker set up a small production of his matches, which were packaged in tin pencil cases of 100 pieces, but did not make much money from his invention. In addition, these matches had a terrible smell.

In 1830, 19-year-old French chemist Charles Soria invented phosphorus matches, consisting of a mixture of Berthollet salt, phosphorus and glue.

These generally ignited easily when rubbed against any hard surface, for example the sole of a boot. Soria's matches had no odor, but were harmful to health, since white phosphorus is poisonous.
In 1855, chemist Johan Lundstrom realized that red is sometimes better than white. The Swede applied red phosphorus to the surface of sandpaper on the outside of a small box and added the same phosphorus to the composition of the match head. Thus, they no longer caused harm to health and were easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface.

Finally, in 1889, Joshua Pusey invented the matchbox, but the patent for this invention was given away American company Diamond Match Company, which came up with exactly the same one, but with an “incendiary” surface on the outside (Pewsey had it inside the box).

For general development. Phosphorus matches were brought to Russia from Europe in 1836 and were sold at one hundred silver rubles. And the first domestic factory for the production of matches was built in St. Petersburg in 1837.

Match

Ignition of the match head

Burning match

One of the early match packs

Match- a stick (handle, straw) made of flammable material, equipped with an incendiary head at the end, used to create an open fire.

Etymology and history of the word

The word "match" is derived from old Russian word"matches" - the plural uncountable form of the word "spoke" ( sharpened wooden stick, splinter). Originally this word meant wooden nails, which were used in the manufacture of shoes (for attaching the sole to the head). The word is still used in this meaning in a number of regions of Russia. Originally to refer to matches in modern understanding the phrase “incendiary (or samogar) matches” was used, and only with the widespread distribution of matches did the first word begin to be omitted, and then completely disappeared from use.

Main types of modern matches

Based on the material of the matchstick, matches can be divided into wooden (made from soft wood - aspen, linden, poplar, American white pine, etc.), cardboard and wax (paraffin - made from cotton rope impregnated with paraffin).

According to the ignition method - grating (ignited by friction against a special surface - a grater) and gratingless (ignited by friction on any surface).

In Russia, the most common are aspen matchsticks, accounting for more than 99% of matches produced.

Rubbed matches of various types are the main mass type of matches all over the world.

Stemless (sesquisulfide) matches are produced mainly in England and the USA in limited quantities.

Combustion temperature

In a match, the flame temperature is 750-850 °C, while 300 °C is the ignition temperature of wood, and the combustion temperature of wood is approximately 800-1000 °C.

History of the match

The history of inventions and discoveries in chemistry at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, which led to the invention of various types of matches, is quite confusing. International patent law did not yet exist; European countries often challenged each other's primacy in many projects, and various inventions and discoveries appeared almost simultaneously in different countries. Therefore, it makes sense to talk only about the industrial (manufacturing) production of matches.

The first matches were made in 1805 by the French chemist Chancel. These were wooden matches that were lit when the head of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet salt and cinnabar came into contact with concentrated sulfuric acid. In 1813, the first match factory in Austria-Hungary, Mahliard and Wik, was registered in Vienna for the production of chemical matches. By the time the production of sulfur matches began (1826) by the English chemist and apothecary John Walker. John Walker) chemical matches were already quite widespread in Europe (a version of such a match was used by Charles Darwin, who bit through the glass of a flask with acid and risked getting burned).

The heads in John Walker's matches consisted of a mixture of antimony sulfide, potassium chloride, and gum arabic (gum, a viscous liquid secreted by acacia trees). When such a match is rubbed against sandpaper (grater) or another fairly rough surface, its head easily ignites.

Walker's matches were a full yard long. They were packaged in tin pencil cases of 100 pieces, but Walker did not make much money from his invention. In addition, these matches had a terrible smell. Later, smaller matches began to go on sale.

Currently, matches manufactured in most European countries do not contain sulfur and chlorine compounds - instead, paraffins and chlorine-free oxidizers are used.

Production of matches in Russia

The production of phosphorus matches began in Russia around - , but neither the packaging nor the labels of the first factories have been preserved, and precise documentary data on their location has not yet been found. The first surge in the development of match production occurred in the 2000s. By this time, there were already more than 30 match factories operating in Russia. In November of this year, a law was passed allowing the production of matches only in Moscow and St. Petersburg and limiting retail sales matches. As a result, there was only one match factory left in Russia. In the city it was allowed “to manufacture phosphorus matches everywhere, both in the Empire and in the Kingdom of Poland.” By 2008, there were 251 registered match production facilities operating in Russia.

In Russia, attention was paid quite early to the extreme danger of white phosphorus - already in the city there were restrictions on the circulation of white phosphorus, and in the city an excise tax was established on matches made from white phosphorus twice as high as on “Swedish” matches. By the beginning of the 20th century, the production of matches using white phosphorus in Russia gradually faded away.

One of these companies even produced several matches 1 meter long.

Special matches

In addition to ordinary (household) matches, special ones are also made:

Storm (hunting)- burning in the wind, in dampness and in the rain.
Thermal- developing during combustion more high temperature and giving during combustion the heads more heat.
Signal- giving a colored flame when burning.
Photographic- giving an instant bright flash used for photography.
Fireplace- very long matches for lighting fireplaces.
Gas- shorter length than fireplace ones to light gas burners.
Decorative (gift, collectible) - limited edition boxes with different designs (similar to postage stamps), the matches themselves often had a colored head (pink, green). Box-sized sets of labels were also produced separately.
Household- had, as they now say, “economical packaging.”

Match museums

Application

In addition to their main purpose, matches are sometimes used:

Instead of counting sticks for teaching children. In this case, the heads of the matches are cut off or washed off with water so as not to provoke a fire.
As conditional monetary unit in various card and other games.
For making match houses
A Soviet/Russian matchbox according to GOST has a length of exactly 5 cm, which allows you to use it to measure the size of objects.
For various logic games, as well as accuracy games.
Matches, sharpened with a knife or properly broken, can be used as toothpicks.
A match with cotton wool wound around it replaces a cotton swab.
A match bent in half is used to hold a marijuana cigarette when it has faded so much that it is impossible to hold it with your fingers.
IN Soviet times matchboxes were often used as containers for donating feces in clinics.
Matches are often used as props for magic tricks.
Matchboxes are used for storage small items. For example, radio amateurs store small radio components in them. Sometimes several boxes are glued together to create a storage unit (“cash box”) with several compartments in the form of a miniature chest of drawers.
Collecting matches, matchboxes, labels, etc. - phylumenia.
Like a bookmark when reading a book.
In pyrotechnics.
The box can be used as a container for holding small animals (for example, insects)
For extending handle bars.
Interesting fact: a match is often used as an object for size comparison when photographing small items, such as modern radio components. In this case, it is assumed that everyone has seen the match, and the fact that it is always easy to find for taking a photo is used.
Sometimes matches are used instead of weights (a set of metal plates weighing up to 1 gram) for weighing small objects and substances (1 match = 0.1 grams)

In culture and art

“The Diamond Match”, tale by P. P. Bazhov
“For Matches” (Russian translation) - a humorous story by Maju Lassila
“Burn, Burn Clear...”, production drama. The film takes place in a match factory.
“The Swedish Match” (), a story by A. P. Chekhov, as well as () its film adaptation of the same name
“How Savushkin went for matches”
“The Little Match Girl”, a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and a cartoon based on it
“The Girl from the Match Factory”, dir. Aki Kaurismäki
A wizard walked through the city, novel. The Secret of the Iron Door, a film adaptation of this novel. About a boy who found a box of magic matches.

Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced flint and steel about two centuries ago, when looms were already working, trains and steamships were running. But it was not until 1844 that the creation of safety matches was announced.

Discovery of phosphorus

In 1669, the alchemist Henning Brand, trying to create the philosopher's stone, obtained by evaporating a mixture of sand and urine a substance that glows in the dark, later called phosphorus. The next step in the history of the invention of the match was taken by the English physicist and chemist Robert Boyle (co-author of the Boyle-Mariotte law) and his assistant Gottfried Hauckweitz: they coated paper with phosphorus and ran a wood chip coated with sulfur over it.

Incendiary machines

Between matches and flint, there were several inventions for producing fire, in particular, Döbereiner's incendiary apparatus, created in 1823 and based on the property of detonating gas to ignite in the presence of small platinum filings.
After the invention of berthollet salt (potassium chlorate) by the French chemist Claude Berthollet, his compatriot Chancel created the so-called “French incendiary machine”: potassium chlorate, along with sulfur, resin, sugar and gum arabic (acacia resin, a viscous adhesive) was applied to a wooden stick, and upon contact with concentrated sulfuric acid, ignition occurred, sometimes with an explosive nature.

The chemist Wagemann from Tübingen used Chancel's invention in 1806, but added pieces of asbestos to sulfuric acid to slow down the combustion process. The factory he created in Berlin was the first large-scale production of incendiary devices. In 1813, the first match factory in Austria-Hungary, Mahliard and Wik, was registered in Vienna for the production of so-called chemical matches. Charles Darwin used similar chemical matches when he bit into an ampoule of acid with the risk of getting burned.

First matches

In 1832, “dry matches” were invented in Vienna. Chemist Leonard Trevani coated the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of Berthollet salt with sulfur and glue, these matches were lit by friction against a rough surface; however, sometimes the head ignited explosively.
The inventor of the first phosphorus matches was the young Frenchman Charles Soria. In 1831, a nineteen-year-old experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of berthollet salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. The ignition temperature of such matches turned out to be low - 30°C. Soria tried to get a patent, but he did not have the money to register it, so a year later phosphorus matches were created again by the German chemist J. Kammerer.
The first phosphorus matches were brought to Russia in 1836, they were expensive - a silver ruble per hundred. The first domestic match factory was built in St. Petersburg in 1837, and in 1842 in the St. Petersburg province alone there were 9 match factories, producing 10 million matches daily. The price of matches dropped sharply to 3-5 kopecks in copper per hundred pieces.
TO mid-19th century, the production of matches in Russia began to take on the character of a handicraft industry, since it was discovered that matches in significant amount can also be made at home. However, the easy flammability of phosphorus led to fires. During transportation, matches often caught fire due to friction. Fires blazed along the path of the match trains: maddened horses with burning carts brought a lot of trouble.
In 1848, Nicholas I issued a decree to make matches only in capital cities and pack them in tin cans. Due to the toxicity of white phosphorus, work in match factories threatened workers with phosphorus necrosis, which caused, in particular, inflammation and bleeding of the gums.

Safety matches

Industrial production of the first safety matches was started in Sweden in 1855 by Johan Lundström and became possible thanks to the discovery of non-toxic amorphous phosphorus in 1844 by the Austrian chemist Anton von Schrotter (1802-1875). The head of the safety matches did not contain all the substances necessary for ignition: amorphous (red) phosphorus was deposited on the wall of the matchbox. Therefore, the match could not light accidentally. The composition of the head included potassium chlorate mixed with glue, gum arabic, crushed glass and manganese dioxide. Such matches no longer caused harm to health, were easily lit on a pre-prepared surface and practically did not spontaneously ignite. Also in 1855, Lundström's matches were awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris.

Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: the veneer method (for square-section matches) and the stamping method (for round-section matches). Small aspen or pine logs are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. The matches sequentially pass through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a ground layer of paraffin is applied to one end of the match to ignite the wood from the match head, a layer forming the head is applied on top of it, a second layer is applied to the tip of the head, the head is also sprayed with a strengthening solution , protecting it from atmospheric influences. A modern match machine (18 meters long and 7.5 meters high) produces up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour shift.

Samogar knitting needle

"Match" comes from the shape plural the words “knitting needle” (a pointed wooden stick). The word originally meant wooden shoe nails, and this meaning of "match" still exists in a number of dialects. The matches used to start fire were initially called “incendiary (or samogar) matches.”

In Russia, 99% of all matches produced are aspen matchsticks. Rubbed matches of various types are the main type of matches throughout the world. Stemless (sesquisulfide) matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for military needs. The basis of the rather complex composition of the head is non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide and Berthollet salt.

Production of matches in Russia

The production of phosphorus matches began in Russia around the years, but neither the packaging nor the labels of the first factories have been preserved, and precise documentary data on their location has not yet been found. The first surge in the development of match production occurred in the 2000s. By this time, there were already more than 30 match factories operating in Russia. In November of this year, a law was passed allowing the production of matches only in Moscow and St. Petersburg and limiting the retail sale of matches. As a result, there was only one match factory left in Russia. In the city it was allowed “to manufacture phosphorus matches everywhere, both in the Empire and in the Kingdom of Poland.” By 2008, there were 251 registered match production facilities operating in Russia.

Match head composition

Berthollet's salt	KClO3	46,5 %
chrome peak	K2Cr2O7	1,5 %

Today we are talking about ordinary matches. It would seem so simple, but people have been moving towards their current form for a very long time. Before the advent of matches, people were forced to find all sorts of ways to make fire. The main thing has long been the friction of wood against each other, with long work fire appeared. It was also possible to ignite dry grass or paper sunbeam through a kind of lens or glass, knock out sparks with silicon or other similar stones. Then it was important to keep the fire going and keep it going. Pieces of coal were often used for this.

The world's first matches - makanka matches

And only at the end of the 18th century everything changed. Claude Berthollet, a French chemist, as a result of experiments, obtained a substance that was later named Berthollet salt in his honor. As a result, in 1805 in Europe, people saw the so-called “makanka” matches. These were thin splinters with heads that were smeared with Berthollet salt. They were lit after dipping in a solution of concentrated sulfuric acid.

Matches with Berthollet salt produced at the factory

But the first real matches that did not require dipping appeared thanks to the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker. In 1827, he established that if a mixture of antimony sulfide, berthollet salt and gum arabic is applied to the tip of a wooden stick, and then the stick is dried in air, then when the resulting match is rubbed on sandpaper, it easily ignites. That is, there was no longer any need to carry a bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid with you (just imagine). D. Walker created a small factory to produce his matches. He packed them in tin cases of 100 pieces each. These matches also had a significant drawback: they smelled very bad. The improvement of matches began.

In 1830, 19-year-old French chemist Charles Soria invented phosphorus matches. Their flammable part contained berthollet salt, phosphorus and glue. These matches were very convenient: for them to ignite, all they needed was friction on almost any hard surface, even the sole of a shoe. Soria's matches had no smell, but even here, not everything was smooth. The fact is that these matches were harmful to health, because white phosphorus is poisonous.

Matches take on a modern look

Later, in 1855, another chemist, Johan Lundstrom from Sweden, decided to use red phosphorus. He applied it to the surface of the sandpaper, but placed it on a small box, and then introduced red phosphorus from the composition and the head of the match. It is safe for humans and the problem has been solved.

The appearance of the matchbox

And in 1889, Joshua Pusey invented the matchbox we are all familiar with. But his invention was a little unusual for us: the incendiary surface was located inside the box. Therefore, the American company Diamond Match Company managed to patent the box, which placed such a surface on the outside, which was undoubtedly much more convenient.
As for us, phosphorus matches were first brought to Russia from Europe in 1836, the price for them was a silver ruble per hundred, which was then relatively expensive. And the first Russian match factory was created in St. Petersburg in 1837.