Does thermite need a high temperature to react?

Does thermite need a high temperature to start reacting with steele, or do you toss thermite on steele and the reaction causes a high temperature? Some people say thermite was what kept the heat up at ground zero for months.

"Thermite contains its own supply of oxygen, and does not require any external source such as air. Consequently, it cannot be smothered and may ignite in any environment, given sufficient initial heat. It will burn just as well while underwater, for example, and cannot even be extinguished with water, as water sprayed on a thermite reaction will instantly be boiled into steam."

Which one is it now? Does the reaction of thermite with steele cause heat, or is a lot of heat needed to trigger the reaction of thermite with steele?

Originally posted by Cassius666
Does thermite need a high temperature to start reacting with steele, or do you toss thermite on steele and the reaction causes a high temperature? Some people say thermite was what kept the heat up at ground zero for months.

"Thermite contains its own supply of oxygen, and does not require any external source such as air. Consequently, it cannot be smothered and may ignite in any environment, given sufficient initial heat. It will burn just as well while underwater, for example, and cannot even be extinguished with water, as water sprayed on a thermite reaction will instantly be boiled into steam."

Which one is it now? Does the reaction of thermite with steele cause heat, or is a lot of heat needed to trigger the reaction of thermite with steele?

You must be careful on what you are stating, or what others state. Thermite specifically was not used, however
Jones has found a form of energetic nano material with characteristics of thermite.

The ignition temperature (to start a reaction) is about 650 degrees C for conventional thermite.
A common technique to start a reaction is to light a magnesium fuse which burns white hot; hot enough
to start the thermite reaction. The reaction temperature is well over 3,000 degrees C

en.wikipedia.org...

The ignition temperature (to start a reaction) is about 430 degrees C for the material Jones found in the dust.
Some types of atomically engineering nano thermite can surpass 4,000 degrees C during the reaction.

I have some threads here with source to LLNL labs which show these very details.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Have a read through some of those linked PDF's.

Also note: It's not the contact with the steel that provides the extreme temperatures, it's the nano material, or
thermite itself.