Matches have been one of the most important elements of human life for many decades, and even today they play an important role in our everyday life. Usually, striking a match on a box, we do not even think about what chemical reactions are taking place at that second and how much ingenuity and effort people have put in to have such a convenient means of making fire.

Ordinary matches are undoubtedly among the most amazing inventions of the human mind. To be convinced of this, it suffices to recall how much effort it took to make a fire in the old days.

True, our ancestors abandoned the tedious method of extracting fire by friction even in antiquity. In the Middle Ages, a more convenient device appeared for this purpose - a steel, but even with it, kindling a fire required a certain skill and effort. When steel hit flint, a spark was struck, which fell on tinder soaked in saltpeter. The tinder began to smolder. Having attached a piece of paper, shavings or any other kindling to it, they fanned the fire. Fanning the spark was the most unpleasant moment in this lesson. But was it possible to do without it? Someone came up with the idea of ​​dipping a dry splinter into molten sulfur. As a result, a sulfur head formed on one tip of the torch. When the head was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it flared up. The whole splinter lit up from it. This is how the first matches appeared.

I must say that throughout their previous history, people tried to get fire with the help of mechanical influences - friction or impact. With this approach, the sulfur match could only play an auxiliary role, since it was impossible to directly make fire with its help, because it did not catch fire either from impact or friction. But at the end of the 18th century, the famous chemist Berthollet proved that the flame could be the result of chemical reaction. In particular, if sulfuric acid is dropped on potassium hypochlorous acid (Bertholite salt), a flame will arise. This discovery made it possible to approach the problem of making fire from a completely different angle. AT different countries many years of research began on the creation of matches with an end smeared with one or another chemical substance that can ignite under certain conditions.

In 1812, Chapsel invented the first self-igniting matches, still very imperfect, but with their help it was possible to get a flame much faster than with the help of a steel. Chapsel's matches were wooden sticks with a head made of a mixture of sulfur, bartolet salt and cinnabar (the latter served to color the incendiary mass in a beautiful red color). In sunny weather, such a match was lit with a biconvex lens, and in other cases, in contact with a drop of concentrated sulfuric acid. These matches were very expensive and, moreover, dangerous, since sulfuric acid splashed when the head ignited and could cause burns. It is clear that they are not widely used. More practical were to be matches with heads that light up with light friction. However, sulfur was not suitable for this purpose.

They were looking for another flammable substance and then drew attention to white phosphorus, discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Brand. Brand obtained phosphorus while trying to create the Philosopher's Stone by evaporating a mixture of sand and urine. Phosphorus is much more combustible than sulfur, but not everything worked out right away with it. At first, matches were lit with difficulty, as the phosphorus burned out too quickly and did not have time to ignite the torch. Then they began to apply it over the head of an old sulfur match, assuming that sulfur would catch fire faster from phosphorus than wood. But these matches also lit up badly. Things went smoothly only after they began to mix with phosphorus substances that, when heated, release the oxygen necessary for ignition.

The next version of chemical matches, ignited by the contact of a head of a mixture of sugar and potassium perchlorate with sulfuric acid, appeared in Vienna. In 1813, Mahliard & Wik's first match factory in Austria-Hungary for the production of chemical matches was registered here. A variant of such a match was used by Charles Darwin, biting through the glass of a cone with acid and risking burns.

By the time the production of sulfur matches began (1826) by the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker, chemical matches were already quite widespread in Europe. The heads in John Walker's matches consisted of a mixture of antimony sulfide, bertolet salt and gum arabic (gum, a viscous liquid secreted by acacia). When such a match was rubbed against sandpaper (grater) or another rather rough surface, its head easily ignited. Walker's matches were a full yard long. They were packed in tin cases of 100 pieces. 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. In addition, these matches had a terrible smell and sometimes ignited with an explosion. Perhaps that is why Walker did not earn a lot of money on his invention.

Now it is difficult to say who was the first to come up with a successful recipe for incendiary mass for phosphorus matches. According to one version, in 1830 it was developed by the 19-year-old French chemist Charles Soria. His matches consisted of a mixture of Berthollet salt, white phosphorus and glue. These matches were very flammable, because they caught fire even from mutual friction in the box and when rubbing against any hard surface, for example, the sole of a boot. At that time, there was even an English joke in which a whole match says to another, half-burnt: “You see how your bad habit of scratching the back of your head ends!”

According to another version, it was the Austrian Irini. In 1833, he suggested to the entrepreneur Roemer the following method for making matches: “You need to take some hot glue, gum arabic is best, throw a piece of phosphorus into it and shake the bottle with glue vigorously. In hot glue, with strong agitation, the phosphorus will break into small particles. They adhere so closely to the glue that a thick whitish liquid is formed. Further, finely ground powder of lead peroxide must be added to this mixture. All this is stirred until a uniform brown mass is obtained. First you need to prepare sulphates, that is, splinters, the ends of which are covered with sulfur. From above, sulfur must be covered with a layer of phosphorus mass. To do this, sulphurs are dipped in the prepared mixture. Now it remains to dry them. Thus, matches are obtained. They ignite very easily. You just have to strike them against the wall.

This description enabled Roemer to open a match factory. However, he understood that it was inconvenient to carry matches in his pocket and strike them against the wall and came up with the idea of ​​​​packing them in boxes, on one side of which they glued a rough piece of paper (they simply prepared it - they dipped it in glue and poured sand or crushed glass on it). When striking on such a piece of paper (or on any rough surface), the match ignited. Having set up a trial production of matches to begin with, Roemer then expanded production forty times - so great was the demand for his goods, and earned a lot of money from the production of matches. Other manufacturers followed his example, and soon phosphorus matches became a popular and cheap commodity in all countries.

Gradually, several different compositions of the incendiary mass were developed. Already from the description of Irini it is clear that the head of the phosphorus match included several components, each of which performed its own functions. First of all, there was phosphorus, which played the role of an igniter. Substances that release oxygen were mixed with it. In addition to the rather dangerous berthollet salt, manganese peroxide or red lead could be used in this role, and in more expensive matches, lead peroxide, which was generally the most suitable material.

Less combustible substances were placed under a layer of phosphorus, transmitting a flame from an igniter to a wooden torch. It could be sulfur, stearin or paraffin. In order for the reaction not to go too fast and the wood to have time to heat up to the combustion temperature, neutral substances were added, for example, pumice or powdered glass. Finally, glue was mixed into the mass in order to connect all the other components together. When the head rubbed against a rough surface at the point of contact, heat arose sufficient to ignite the nearest particles of phosphorus, from which others ignited. At the same time, the mass was so heated that the body containing oxygen decomposed. The released oxygen contributed to the ignition of a flammable substance that was under the head (sulfur, paraffin, etc.). From him, the fire was transferred to the tree.

The first phosphorus matches were brought to Russia in 1836, they were expensive - a silver ruble for a hundred.

A big disadvantage of phosphorus matches was the toxicity of phosphorus. In match factories, workers quickly (sometimes in a few months) were poisoned by phosphorus vapor and became incapable of work. The harmfulness of this production exceeded even mirror and hat production. In addition, a solution of an incendiary mass in water gave the strongest poison, which was used by suicides (and often murderers).

In 1847, Schroeter discovered the non-poisonous amorphous red phosphorus. Since that time, there was a desire to replace dangerous white phosphorus with it. Before others, this problem was solved by the famous German chemist Betcher. He prepared a mixture of sulfur and bartolet salt, mixed them with glue, and applied it to the paraffin-coated splinters. But, alas, these matches turned out to be impossible to light on a rough surface. Then Betcher came up with the idea of ​​smearing a piece of paper with a special composition containing a certain amount of red phosphorus. When the match was rubbed against such a surface, particles of red phosphorus were ignited due to the particles of berthollet salt of the head touching them and ignited the latter. New matches burned with a steady yellow flame. They did not give off any smoke or that unpleasant smell that accompanied phosphorus matches. However, the invention of Betcher at first did not interest the manufacturers. And only in 1851, the Lundstrem brothers from Sweden began to produce "safe matches" according to Bechter's recipe. Therefore, phosphorus-free matches were called "Swedish" for a long time. In 1855, these matches were awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. As soon as "safety" matches became widespread, many countries banned the production and sale of matches made from poisonous white phosphorus.

Limited production of matches with white phosphorus 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 manufacture of matches. By 1910, the production of phosphoric matches in Europe and America was completely discontinued.

At the end of the 19th century, the match business became Sweden's "national sport". In 1876, 38 factories for the production of matches were built in this country, and a total of 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 made in most European countries do not contain sulfur and chlorine compounds - paraffins and chlorine-free oxidizing agents are used instead.

A match is a stick (stalk, straw) made of combustible material, equipped with an incendiary head at the end, which serves to produce an open fire.

Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind, they replaced the tinderbox about two centuries ago, when weaving looms were already working, trains and steamships were running. But it wasn't until 1844 that safety matches were announced.

Before a match flared up in the hands of a human being, many events took place, each of which contributed to the long and difficult path of creating a match.

Although the use of fire dates back to the dawn of mankind, it is believed that matches were originally invented in China in 577 during the Qi Dynasty that ruled northern China (550-577). The courtiers were under military siege and left without fire invented them from sulfur.

But let's find out the history of this everyday little thing in more detail ...

The description of these matches is given by Tao Gu in his book “Proofs of the Extraordinary and Supernatural” (c. 950):

“If something unexpected happens overnight, it takes some time. A shrewd man simplified small sticks of pine soaked in sulfur. They were ready to use. It remains only to rub them on an uneven surface. It turned out a flame as big as a wheat ear. This miracle is called "a slave clothed with light." But when I started selling them, I called them fire sticks.” In 1270, matches were already freely sold on the market in the city of Hangzhou.

In Europe, matches were invented only in 1805 by the French chemist Chansel, although already in 1680 the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (who discovered Boyle's law) coated a small sheet of phosphorus and took a wooden stick with a sulfuric head already known to us. He rubbed it against the paper and as a result, a fire broke out.

The word "match" comes from the old Russian word spoke - a pointed wooden stick, or a splinter. Initially, wooden nails were called knitting needles, which fastened the sole to the shoe. At first, matches in Russia were called "incendiary, or samogar matches."

Match sticks can be either wooden (soft wood species are used - linden, aspen, poplar, American white pine ...), and cardboard and wax (cotton cord impregnated with paraffin).

Collecting match labels, boxes, matches themselves and other related items is called phylumenia. And their collectors are called phylumenists.

According to the ignition method, there are grater matches, which ignite when rubbing against the surface of a matchbox, and non-grater ones, which ignite on any surface (remember how Charlie Chaplin lit a match on his trousers).

In ancient times, to make a fire, our ancestors used the friction of wood against wood, then they began to use flint and invented the steel. But even with him, kindling a fire required time, a certain skill and effort. Striking steel on flint, they cut a spark that fell on tinder soaked in saltpeter. It began to smolder and already from it, with the help of dry kindling, they fanned the fire

The next invention was the impregnation of a dry splinter with molten sulfur. When the sulfur head was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it flared up. And from it they already set fire to the hearth. This is how the prototype of the modern match appeared.

In 1669, white phosphorus, which is easily ignited by friction, was discovered, which began to be used in the production of the first match heads.

In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691, who discovered Boyle's law), covered a small sheet with such phosphorus and took a wooden stick with a sulfuric head already known to us. He rubbed it against the paper and as a result, a fire broke out. But unfortunately, Robert Boyle did not draw any useful conclusion from this.

Invented in 1805, Chapsel's wooden matches had a head made from a mixture of sulfur, bartolet salt, and cinnabar red, which was used to color the head. Such a match was lit either with a magnifying glass from the Sun (remember how drawings were burned in childhood, or carbon paper was set on fire), or by dripping concentrated sulfuric acid on it. His matches were dangerous to use and very expensive.

A little later, in 1827, the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker (1781-1859) discovered that if you cover the end of a wooden stick with certain chemicals, then striking it on a dry surface, the head lights up and sets fire to the stick. The chemicals he used were the following: antimony sulfide, berthollet salt, gum and starch. Walker did not patent his "Congreves," as he called the world's first friction-ignited matches he invented.

An important role in the birth of the match was played by the discovery of white phosphorus, made by a retired soldier from Hamburg, Henning Brand in 1669. After studying the works of famous alchemists of that time, he decided to get gold. As a result of the experiments, a certain light powder was accidentally obtained. This substance had amazing property glow, and Brand called it "phosphorus", which in Greek means "light-bearing".

As for Walker, as is often the case, the druggist invented matches by accident. In 1826, he mixed chemicals with a stick. A dried drop formed at the end of this stick. To remove it, he struck the floor with a stick. Fire broke out! Like all slow-witted people, he did not bother to patent his invention, but demonstrated it to everyone. A guy named Samuel Jones was present at such a demonstration and realized the market value of the invention. He called the matches "Lucifer" and began to sell them in tons, despite the fact that some problems were associated with the "Lucifer" - they smelled bad and, when ignited, scattered clouds of sparks around.

He soon put them on the market. The first sale of matches took place on April 7, 1827 in the city of Hikso. Walker made some money with his invention. His matches and Congreves, however, often exploded and were unpredictably dangerous to handle. He died in 1859 at the age of 78 and was buried in the graveyard of Norton Parish Church in Stockton.

However, Samuel Jones soon saw Walker's "Congreves" matches and decided to start selling them as well, calling them "Lucifers". Perhaps due to their name, "Lucifers" matches became popular, especially among smokers, but they also had an unpleasant odor when burned.

There was another problem - in the first matches, the head consisted of one phosphorus, which ignited perfectly, but burned out too quickly and the wooden stick did not always have time to catch fire. I had to return to the old recipe - a sulfuric head, and they began to apply phosphorus to it in order to more easily set fire to the sulfur, which in turn set fire to the wood. Soon they came up with another improvement in the match head - they began to mix chemicals that release oxygen when heated to phosphorus.

Dry matches appeared in Vienna in 1832. They were invented by L. Trevani, he covered the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of Berthollet salt with sulfur and glue. If such a match is passed over sandpaper, the head ignites, but sometimes it exploded, and this led to serious burns.

The ways of further improvement of matches were extremely clear: it is necessary to make such a composition of the mixture for a match head. so that it lights up calmly. The problem was soon resolved. The new composition included Berthollet salt, white phosphorus and glue. Matches with such a coating easily ignited on any hard surface, on glass, on the sole of a shoe, on a piece of wood.
The inventor of the first phosphorus matches was the nineteen-year-old Frenchman Charles Soria. In 1831, a young experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of Berthollet salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. This idea turned out to be successful, since the splinters lubricated with the resulting composition easily ignited during friction. The ignition temperature of such matches is relatively small - 30 degrees. The scientist wanted to patent his invention, but he had to pay a lot of money for this, which he did not have. A year later, matches were re-created by the German chemist J. Kammerer.

These matches were easily flammable, so they caused fires, and besides, white phosphorus is a very toxic substance. Match factory workers suffered from serious illnesses caused by phosphorus fumes.

The first successful recipe for an incendiary mass for making phosphorus matches was apparently invented by the Austrian Irini in 1833. Irini suggested it to the entrepreneur Remer, who opened a match factory. But it was inconvenient to carry matches in bulk, and then a matchbox with rough paper glued to it was born. Now it was no longer necessary to strike a phosphorus match on anything. The only problem was that sometimes matches caught fire from friction in the box.

In connection with the danger of self-ignition of phosphorus matches, the search began for a more convenient and safe flammable substance. White phosphorus, discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Brand, was easier to ignite than sulfur, but its disadvantage was that it was a strong poison and, when burned, gave a very unpleasant and harmful odor. Match factory workers, having breathed in the vapors of white phosphorus, literally turned into disabled people in just a few months. In addition, by dissolving it in water, they obtained the strongest poison, which could easily kill a person.

In 1847, Schroeter discovered red phosphorus, which was no longer poisonous. So gradually began the replacement of poisonous white phosphorus in matches with red. The first combustible mixture based on it was created by the German chemist Betcher. He made the head of a match on the basis of glue from a mixture of sulfur and berthollet salt, and soaked the match itself with paraffin. The match burned splendidly, but its only drawback was that, as before, it did not ignite from rubbing against a rough surface. Then Betcher smeared this surface with a composition containing red phosphorus. When the match head was rubbed, the particles of red phosphorus contained in it ignited, set fire to the head and the match lit up with an even yellow flame. These matches produced neither smoke nor the unpleasant smell of phosphorus matches.

Betcher's invention did not initially attract the attention of industrialists. For the first time, his matches began to be produced in 1851 by the Swedes, the Lundstrem brothers. In 1855, Johan Edvard Lundström patented his matches in Sweden. Therefore, "safe matches" and began to be called "Swedish".

The Swede applied red phosphorus to the surface of the sandpaper on the outside of a small box and added the same phosphorus to the composition of the match head. Thus, they no longer harmed health and easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface. Safety matches in the same year were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris and received a gold medal. From that moment on, the match began its triumphal procession around the world. Them main feature consisted in the fact that they did not ignite when rubbed against any hard surface. The Swedish match was lit only if it was rubbed against the side of the box, covered with a special mass.

Shortly thereafter, Swedish matches began to spread around the world and soon the production and sale of hazardous phosphorus matches was banned in many countries. A few decades later, the production of phosphorus matches completely ceased.

In America, the history of producing your own matchbox began in 1889. Joshua Pusey of Philadelphia invented his matchbox and called it Flexibles. No information about the number of matches placed in this box has survived to this day. There are two versions - there were 20 or 50. He made the first American matchbox out of cardboard using scissors. On a small wood-burning stove, he boiled the mixture for the heads of the matches and covered the surface of the box with another bright mixture to set them on fire. Beginning in 1892, Puxi spent the next 36 months defending the priority of his discovery in the courts. As often happened with great inventions, the idea was already in the air and at the same time other people were also working on the invention of the matchbox. Puxi's patent was unsuccessfully challenged by the Diamond Match Company, which invented a similar matchbox. Being an inventor, not a wrestler, in 1896 he accepted an offer from the Diamond Match Company to sell his patent to them for $4,000, along with a job offer from the company. It was because of what, because already in 1895 the volume of production of matches exceeded 150,000 matchboxes per day.

But only, perhaps, the United States became the only country. where in the 40s a free box of matches was attached to a pack of cigarettes. They have been an integral part of every cigarette purchase. The price of a matchbox hasn't increased in America in fifty years. So the rise and fall of the matchbox in America tracked the number of packs of cigarettes sold.

Matches came to Russia in the 30s of the 19th century and were sold at a silver ruble for a hundred .. Later, the first matchboxes appeared, first wooden and then tin. Moreover, even then labels were glued on them, which led to the emergence of a whole branch of collecting - phylumenia. The label carried not only information, but also decorated and complemented the matches.

The number of factories that produced them reached 30 by the release in 1848 of the law allowing their production only in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The following year, only one match factory worked. In 1859, the monopoly law was abolished and in 1913 there were 251 match factories in Russia.

Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: veneer method (for square section matches) and stamping method (for round section matches). Small aspen or pine chocks are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. Matches sequentially pass through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a primer 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 still sprayed with hardening solution protecting it from the weather. A modern match machine (18 meters long and 7.5 meters high) produces up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour shift.

How is a modern match arranged? The mass of a match head is 60% berthollet salt, as well as combustible 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, iron oxide (III), etc. The binding material is glue.

And what does the skin paste consist of? The main component is red phosphorus. Manganese (IV) oxide, crushed glass and glue are added to it.

What processes take place when a match is lit? When the head is rubbed against the skin at the point of contact, red phosphorus ignites due to the oxygen of Berthollet's salt. Figuratively speaking, fire is originally born in the skin. He lights the match head. Sulfur or sulfide flares up in it, again due to the oxygen of the Bertolet salt. And then the tree lights up.

Amo word "match" comes from the plural form of the word "knitting needle" (a pointed wooden stick). Initially, this word meant wooden shoe nails, in this sense "matches" still exists in a number of dialects. The matches used to start the fire were at first called "incendiary (or samogar) matches."

In 1922, all factories in the USSR were nationalized, but their number after the devastation became an order of magnitude smaller. To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the USSR, about 55 boxes of matches were produced per person. At the beginning of the war, most of the match factories ended up on the territory occupied by the Germans and a match crisis began in the country. Huge needs for matches fell on the eight remaining match factories. In the USSR, lighters began to be mass-produced. After the war, the production of matches quickly resumed.

Signal - which give a bright and far visible colored flame when burning.
Thermal - when these matches are burned, large quantity heat, and the temperature of their combustion is much higher than an ordinary match (300 degrees Celsius).
Photographic - giving an instant bright flash when photographing.
Household in a large package.
Storm, or hunting - these matches are not afraid of dampness, they can burn in the wind and in the rain.

In Russia, 99% of all matches produced are aspen grater matches. Grating matches of various types are the main type of matches all over the world. Matchless (sesquisulfide) matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for army needs. The basis of a rather complex composition of the head are non-poisonous phosphorus sesquisulfide and Berthollet salt.

In contact with

Classmates

, as indicated in the modern encyclopedia, these are thin elongated pieces of wood, cardboard or wax-impregnated thread, equipped with a head of chemical ignited by friction.

Etymology and history of the word
The word "match" is derived from the old Russian word "matches" - the plural uncountable form of the word "spoke" (a pointed wooden stick, a splinter). Initially, this word referred to wooden nails that were used in the manufacture of shoes (for attaching the sole to the head). In this sense, the word is still used in a number of regions of Russia. Initially, to designate matches in the modern sense, the phrase “incendiary (or samogar) matches” was used, and only with the ubiquity of matches did the first word begin to be omitted, and then completely disappeared from everyday life.

History of the match

The history of inventions and discoveries in chemistry at the end of XVIII - early XIX 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 (manufactory) production of matches.

The first matches appeared at the end of the 18th century. These were chemical matches that were ignited by the contact of a head of a mixture of sugar and potassium perchlorate with sulfuric acid. In 1813, the first match factory in Austria-Hungary for the production of chemical matches by Mahliard and Wik was registered in Vienna. By the time the production of sulfur matches began (1826) by the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker, chemical matches were already quite widespread in Europe (Charles Darwin used a variant of such a match, biting through the glass of a cone with acid and risking burns).

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

They were a full yard long. They were packed in tin cases of 100 pieces, but Walker did not earn a lot of money on 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, which consisted of a mixture of barthollet salt, white phosphorus and glue. These matches were very flammable, because 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 remember the hero of Charlie Chaplin, who lit a match on his own pants). At that time, there was an English joke in which a whole match says to another, half-burnt: “You see how your bad habit of scratching the back of your head ends!” Soria's matches were odorless, but were harmful to health, as they were very poisonous, which was used by many suicides to settle accounts with life.

The main drawback 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. The way out was found in the invention of phosphorus-sulfur matches, the head of which was made in two stages - first, the stalk was dipped in a mixture of sulfur, wax or stearin, a small amount of berthollet salt and glue, and then in 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 stalk of a match.

These matches remained dangerous not only in production, but also in use - extinguished matchsticks continued to smolder, leading to frequent fires. This problem was solved by impregnating the match handle with ammonium phosphate (NH4H2PO4). Such matches began to be called impregnated (English impregnated - impregnated) or, later, safe. For stable burning of the cutting, they began to impregnate it with wax or stearin (later - paraffin).

In 1855, a Swedish chemist applied sandpaper to the surface and replaced it with white phosphorus in the head of a match. Such matches were no longer harmful to health, they easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface and practically did not ignite spontaneously. 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 the match heads and remained only in the composition of the spread (grater).

With the development of the production of "Swedish" matches, the use of white phosphorus was banned in almost all countries. Before the invention of sesquisulfide matches, limited matches with white phosphorus were kept only in England, Canada and the USA, mainly for army 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 manufacture of matches. By 1910, the production of phosphoric matches in Europe and America was completely discontinued.

Sesquisulfide matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen. They are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for military needs. The basis of a rather complex composition of the head are non-poisonous phosphorus sequisulphide (P4S3) and berthollet salt.

At the end of the 19th century, the match business became Sweden's "national sport". In 1876, 38 factories for the production of matches were built, and a total of 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 made in most European countries do not contain sulfur and chlorine compounds - paraffins and chlorine-free oxidizing agents are used instead.

First matches

For the first time, white phosphorus was successfully used to light a match by friction in 1830 by the French chemist C. Soria. He made no attempt to organize the industrial production of matches, but two years later phosphorus matches were already being produced in Austria and Germany.

Safety matches

The first safety matches, ignited by rubbing against a specially prepared surface, were created in 1845 in Sweden, where J. Lundström began their industrial production in 1855. This became possible thanks to the discovery by A. Schrotter (Austria) in 1844 of non-toxic amorphous phosphorus. The head of 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 be ignited by accident. The composition of the head included potassium chlorate mixed with glue, gum arabic, crushed glass and manganese dioxide. Almost all matches made in Europe and Japan are of this type.

kitchen matches

Matches with a two-layer head, ignited on any hard surface, were patented by F. Farnham in 1888, but their industrial production began only in 1905. The head of such matches consisted of potassium chlorate, glue, rosin, pure gypsum, white and colored pigments and a small amount phosphorus. The layer at the tip of the same head, which was applied by the second dipping, contained phosphorus, glue, flint, gypsum, zinc oxide and a dye. The matches ignited silently, and the possibility of flying off the burning head was completely excluded.

Matchbooks

Cardboard matchbooks are an American invention. A patent for them, issued by J. Pussy in 1892, was acquired in 1894 by the Diamond Match Company. At first, such matches did not receive public recognition. But after a beer company purchased 10 million matchbooks to advertise its products, cardboard matches became big business. Nowadays, matchbooks are distributed free of charge to win the favor of customers in hotels, restaurants, tobacco shops. There are twenty matches in a standard booklet, but books of other sizes are also available. They are usually sold in packs of 50. Books of special design can be supplied in packages of various sizes, most suitable for the customer. These matches are of the safe type;

Impregnation of matches

Prior to 1870, no fire impregnation methods were known to prevent flameless burning of the remaining coal on an extinguished match. In 1870 the Englishman Howes received a patent for the impregnation of square matches. cross section. It listed a number of materials (including alum, sodium tungstate and silicate, ammonium borate and zinc sulfate) suitable for impregnating square matches by immersing them in a chemical bath.

The impregnation of round matches on a continuous match machine was considered impossible. Due to the fact that the legislation of some states since 1910 required mandatory fire impregnation, W. Fairburn, an employee of the Diamond Match company, in 1915 proposed, as an additional operation on a match machine, immersing matches about 2/3 of the length into a weak solution (approx. 0 .5%) ammonium phosphate.

Phosphorus sesquisulfide

White phosphorus, which was used to make matches, caused bone disease in match factory workers, tooth loss and necrosis of jaw areas. In 1906 an international agreement was signed in Bern (Switzerland) banning the manufacture, import and sale of matches containing white phosphorus. In connection with this ban, harmless matches with amorphous (red) phosphorus were developed in Europe. Phosphorus sesquisulfide was first obtained in 1864 by the Frenchman J. Lemoine, mixing four parts of phosphorus with three parts of sulfur without access to air. In such a mixture, the toxic properties of white phosphorus did not appear. In 1898, the French chemists A.Seren and E.Caen proposed a method for using phosphorus sesquisulfide in match production, which was soon adopted in some European countries.

In 1900, the Diamond Match Company acquired the right to use a patent for matches with phosphorus sesquisulfide. But the patent formula was for matches with a simple head. The quality of sesquisulfide matches with a two-layer head turned out to be unsatisfactory.

In December 1910, W. Fairburn developed new formula harmless matches with phosphorus sesquisulfide. The company published the patent formula and allowed all competitors to use it for free. A law was passed to tax every box of matches with white phosphorus equal to two cents, after which matches with white phosphorus were forced out of the market.

Mechanization of the production of matches

In the beginning, the production of matches was completely manual, but soon attempts began to increase productivity through mechanization. Already in 1888, an automatic continuous-action machine was created, which, with some modifications, still forms the basis of match production.

Production of wooden matches

Modern wooden matches are made in two ways. With the veneer method (for matches of a square cross section), selected aspen logs are skinned and then cut into short blocks, which are peeled or planed into ribbons corresponding in width to the length of the matches, one match thick. The ribbons are fed into a match machine, which cuts them into individual matches. The latter are mechanically inserted into the perforations of the plates of the dipping machine. In another method (for round matches), small pine blocks are fed into the head of the machine, where punching dies arranged in a row cut match blanks and push them into perforations of metal plates on an endless chain.

With both methods of production, matches pass successively through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a primer 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, and in Finally, the head is sprayed with a hardening solution that protects it from atmospheric influences. After passing on an endless chain through huge drying drums for 60 minutes, the finished matches are pushed out of the plates and fed into the packing machine, which distributes them among the matchboxes. Then the wrapping machine wraps three, six or ten boxes in paper, and the packing machine fills the shipping container with them. A modern match machine (18 m long and 7.5 m high) produces up to 10 million matches in an 8-hour shift.

Production of cardboard matches

Cardboard matches are made on similar machines, but in two separate operations. Pre-treated cardboard from large rolls is fed into a machine that cuts "combs" of 60-100 matches from it and inserts them into the sockets of an endless chain. The chain carries them through the paraffin bath and head forming bath. The finished combs are fed into another machine, which cuts them into double "pages" of 10 matches and fastens them with a pre-printed lid fitted with an ignition strip. Ready matchbooks are sent to the packing machine. Massage chair Since ancient times, the East has known that the main problems with well-being are precisely due to improper stress on the muscles and spine. To restore tone and health, it was […]

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Ever since Prometheus gave fire to people, humanity has faced the task of extracting the received gift exactly when it is needed. In ancient times, this task was solved by patiently rubbing dry pieces of wood against each other, and later by flint flint. Then splinters coated with gray appeared, but not yet as a means of making fire, but only as kindling - fire was needed to ignite them. The first mention of such chips dates back to the 10th century (China). However, primitive matches ignited from the slightest spark, and it was so convenient for lighting lamps that the Chinese poet Tao Gu called them "light-bearing servants" in his book.

The history of matches as a means of making fire began with the discovery of phosphorus in 1669 by the alchemist Brandt. In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (the same one after whom the Boyle-Mariotte law is named) covered a strip of paper with phosphorus and, striking it with a wooden match with a sulfur head, got fire ... but did not attach any importance to this. As a result, the invention of matches was delayed by more than a century - until 1805, when the French chemist Jean Chancel proposed his version of a match with a head made from a mixture of sulfur, potassium chloride and sugar. The kit included a bottle of sulfuric acid, where matches had to be dipped to light them.

Until recently, a box of matches was an absolutely necessary item in every home without exception.

In 1826, British apothecary John Walker invented the first matches that were lit by friction. He made a match head from a mixture of sulfur, potassium chlorate, sugar and antimony sulfide, and ignited it by striking on sandpaper. True, Walker's matches burned unsteadily, scattering the burning mixture, which often led to fires, and therefore their sale was banned in France and Germany. And in 1830, the French chemist Charles Sauria replaced antimony sulfide with white phosphorus.

Such matches burned perfectly, ignited with one movement of the head on any rough surface, but ... the smell of white phosphorus burning and splashing around was terrible. In addition, white phosphorus turned out to be very toxic - "phosphorus necrosis" quickly became an occupational disease of match factory workers. One pack of matches at that time contained lethal dose white phosphorus, and suicide by swallowed match heads became common.

A replacement for the toxic and flammable white phosphorus has not been easy to find. This was done by the Swedish chemist Gustav Erik Pasch, who in 1844 realized one simple thing: if a match ignites when sulfur and phosphorus come into mechanical contact, it is not at all necessary to place phosphorus in the match head - just put it on a rough surface that is being struck! This decision, together with the discovery of red phosphorus (which, unlike white, does not ignite in air and is much less toxic), came to the rescue just in time, and formed the basis of the first truly safe matches. And in 1845, two other Swedes - the brothers Johan and Karl Lundström - founded a company that made safety matches a mass product, and the name "Swedish matches" - a household name.

The match is now not perceived as an amazing and useful invention of mankind.

The box of matches has become so commonplace that it is a common item in any home.

And how long have matches existed in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing them?

Modern matches packed in a small box appeared at the end of the 19th century.

The basis for the use of a match is receiving fire.

In ancient times, people received fire from burning trees during a thunderstorm and tried to keep it as long as possible.

A little later the fire got through friction of two pieces of wood, or hitting one stone against another with the formation of a spark.

The ancient Greeks and Romans knew about another way to make fire in sunny weather - with the help of concave lens they focused the sun's rays.

The history of the first matches begins in late 17th century.

At that time chemist Hankwitz, based on the discovery of the chemist Hinningom Brandom, applied sulfur to a wooden stick and, by rubbing against a piece of phosphorus, got fire.

This method resembled tarred sticks - the torches of the ancient Romans.

The disadvantage was that such wooden sticks did not burn for a long time and exploded when ignited.

In 1805 French Jean Chancel invented the incendiary device. It was a stick coated with a mixture of sulfur, resin and bartholite salt. It was enough to moisten such a stick with concentrated sulfuric acid and fire was obtained.

But this invention did not gain popularity, since carrying sulfuric acid it was not very convenient, besides, the reaction was violent, and it was possible to get burns.

English pharmacist John Walker in 1826 he tried to light a stick with sulfur and bartolet salt by striking it on sandpaper.

Such a stick had a length of about a meter, and it was not very convenient to light it.

The size of such a wand was reduced by a certain Jones and, having appropriated the invention, set up production.

The disadvantage of such matches was the explosion when ignited and poisonous smoke.

At that time, it was possible to get fire by chemical means, but the task remained to do it conveniently and safely.

The problem with explosiveness when the wand caught fire was solved 19-year-old Frenchman Char Soria in 1830, who added white phosphorus to a mixture of sulfur and bartolet salt.

Now such a mixture caught fire when rubbed against any object and burned evenly and for a long time.

But Saria was unable to patent his invention due to lack of money.

A year later, the German Kammerer made the same discovery, and soon match factories began to appear in European countries.

But this invention was not ideal either, since the match easily ignited as a result of friction with any object, which led to fires.

In addition, the composition included white phosphorus, which was very poisonous, and because of this, match factory workers died en masse.

Solved this problem Swedish chemist Johan Lundstrom, who in 1855 decided to replace white phosphorus with the newly invented red phosphorus. Red phosphorus burned in the same way, but was not poisonous.

Moreover, he applied red phosphorus to the sandpaper, on which the match was struck, and the stalk itself was soaked with ammonium phosphate, so that the match would not smolder after attenuation.

For his invention Lundstrom received a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. This gave impetus to the spread of such matches around the world.

Such matches were safe, harmless and not expensive to produce.
So Sweden turned into a match state.

Subsequently, matches began to take on a modern look.

The wooden stick was made from white pine in the USA, linden in Germany, and aspen in Russia.

Sulfur, bartholite salt, speckle powder and iron oxide were applied to its head. This composition allowed the match to burn evenly and slowly.

The strip against which the match is rubbed to light it contained a mixture of red phosphorus, manganese oxide, and crushed glass.

In Russia, matches began to be produced around 1833-1837.

Moreover, the matches themselves and the strips for their ignition were sold separately for a long time.

And only at the end of the 19th century they began to be produced in boxes decorated with labels with information about the manufacturers.

These labels have become a collector's item.

The very word "match" in Russia came from the diminutive word " spoke". It was originally a wooden nail that was used to attach the sole to the head of the shoe.

Like this Short story making matches. And lighting another match, we don’t even think that some 150-200 years ago ordinary people there was no such easy possibility of obtaining fire.