Dictionary:
match2 (măch)  |
[Middle English matche, lamp wick, from Old French mesche, from Vulgar Latin *micca, from Latin myxa, a lamp's nozzle, from Greek muxa, mucus, lamp wick.]
| 5min Related Video: match |
| How Products are Made: How is a match made? |
Background
A match is a small stick of wood or strip of cardboard with a solidified mixture of flammable chemicals deposited on one end. When that end is struck on a rough surface, the friction generates enough heat to ignite the chemicals and produce a small flame. Some matches, called strike-anywhere matches, may be ignited by striking them on any rough surface. Other matches, called safety matches, will ignite only when they are struck on a special rough surface containing certain chemicals.
History
The first known use of matches was in 577 during the siege of a town in northern China. Women in the town used sticks coated with a mixture of chemicals to start fires for cooking and heating, thus allowing them to conserve their limited fuel by putting the fires out between uses. The details of this technique were subsequently lost to history. It was not until 1826 that John Walker of England invented the first friction matches. Walker's matches were ignited by drawing the heads through a folded piece of paper coated with ground glass. He began selling them in 1827, but they were difficult to light and were not a success.
In 1831, Charles Sauria of France developed a match that used white phosphorus. These matches were strike-anywhere matches and were much easier to ignite. Unfortunately, they were too easy to ignite and caused many unintentional fires. White phosphorus also proved to be highly toxic. Workers in match plants who inhaled white phosphorus fumes often suffered from a horrible degeneration of the jawbones known as "phossy jaw." Despite this health hazard, white phosphorus continued to be used in strike-anywhere matches until the early 1900s, when government action in the United States and Europe forced manufacturers to switch to a nontoxic chemical.
In 1844 Gustaf Pasch of Sweden proposed placing some of the match's combustion ingredients on a separate striking surface, rather than incorporating them all into the match head, as an extra precaution against accidental ignition. This idea—coupled with the discovery of less-reactive, nontoxic red phosphorus—led J. E. Lundstrom of Sweden to introduce safety matches in 1855. Although safety matches posed less of a hazard, many people still preferred the convenience of strike-anywhere matches, and both types continue to be used today.
The first matchbook matches were patented in the United States by Joshua Pussey in 1892. The Diamond Match Company purchased the rights to this patent in 1894. At first, these new matches were not well accepted, but when a brewing company bought 10 million matchbooks to advertise their product, sales soared.
Early match manufacturing was mainly a manual operation. Mechanization slowly took over portions of the operation until the first automatic match machine was patented by Ebenezer Beecher in 1888. Modern match manufacturing is a highly automated process using continuous-operation machines that can produce as many as 10 million matches in an eight-hour shift with only a few people to monitor the operation.
Raw Materials
Woods used to make matchsticks must be porous enough to absorb various chemicals, and rigid enough to withstand the bending forces encountered when the match is struck. They should also be straight-grained and easy to work, so that they may be readily cut into sticks. White pine and aspen are two common woods used for this purpose.
Once the matchsticks are formed, they are soaked in ammonium phosphate, which is a fire retardant. This prevents the stick from smoldering after the match has gone out. During manufacture, the striking ends of the matchsticks are dipped in hot paraffin wax. This provides a small amount of fuel to transfer the flame from the burning chemicals on the tip to the matchstick itself. Once the paraffin burns off, the ammonium phosphate in the matchstick prevents any further combustion.
The heads of strike-anywhere matches are composed of two parts, the tip and the base. The tip contains a mixture of phosphorus sesquisulfide and potassium chlorate. Phosphorus sesquisulfide is a highly reactive, non-toxic chemical used in place of white phosphorus. It is easily ignited by the heat of friction against a rough surface. The potassium chlorate supplies the oxygen needed for combustion. The tip also contains powdered glass and other inert filler material to increase the friction and control the burning rate. Animal glue is used to bind the chemicals together, and a small amount of zinc oxide may be added to the tip to give it a whitish color. The base contains many of the same materials as the tip, but has a smaller amount of phosphorus sesquisulfide. It also contains sulfur, rosin, and a small amount of paraffin wax to sustain combustion. A water-soluble dye may be added to give the base a color such as red or blue.
The heads of safety matches are composed of a single part. They contain antimony trisulfide, potassium chlorate, sulfur, powdered glass, inert fillers, and animal glue. They may also include a water-soluble dye. Antimony trisulfide cannot be ignited by the heat of friction, even in the presence of an oxidizing agent like potassium chlorate, and it requires another source of ignition to start the combustion. That source of ignition comes from the striking surface, which is deposited on the side of the matchbox or on the back cover of the matchbook. The striking surface contains red phosphorus, powdered glass, and an adhesive such as gum arabic or urea formaldehyde. When a safety match is rubbed against the striking surface, the friction generates enough heat to convert a trace of the red phosphorus into white phosphorus. This immediately reacts with the potassium chlorate in the match head to produce enough heat to ignite the antimony trisulfide and start the combustion.
Match boxes and match books are made from cardboard. The finned strips of cardboard used to make the matches in match books are called a comb.
The Manufacturing
Process
Matches are manufactured in several stages. In the case of wooden-stick matches, the matchsticks are first cut, prepared, and moved to a storage area. When the matchsticks are needed, they are inserted into holes in a long perforated belt. The belt carries them through the rest of the process, where they are dipped into several chemical tanks, dried, and packaged in boxes. Cardboard-stick matches used in match books are processed in a similar manner.
Here is a typical sequence of operations for manufacturing wooden-stick matches:
Cutting the matchsticks
2 The stripped logs are then cut into short lengths about 1.6 ft (0.5 m) long. Each length is placed in a peeler and rotated while a sharp, flat blade peels a long, thin sheet of wood from the outer surface of the log. This sheet is about 0.1 in (2.5 mm) thick and is called a veneer. The peeling blade moves inward toward the core of the rotating log until only a small, round post is left. This post is discarded and may be used for fuel or reduced to wood chips for use in making paper or chipboard.
Treating the matchsticks
Forming the match heads
Packaging the matches
Quality Control
The chemicals for each portion of the match head are weighed and measured exactly to avoid any variation in the match composition that might affect performance. Operators constantly monitor the operation and visually inspect the product at all stages of manufacture. In addition to visual inspection and other normal quality control procedures, match production requires strict attention to safety. Considering that there may be more than one million matches attached to the perforated belt at any time means that the working environment must be kept free of all sources of accidental ignition.
The Future
The use of matches in the United States has steadily declined in the last few decades. This decline is the result of several factors: the availability of inexpensive, disposable lighters; the decrease in the use of tobacco products by the general public; and the development of automatic lighting devices for gas-fired stoves. Of the matches that are sold, book matches far outsell wooden stick matches because of their advertising value. Worldwide, matches will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future, although their production will probably follow the demand and migrate to other countries.
Where to Learn More
Books
Bennett, H., ed. The Chemical Formulary, Vol. XV. Chemical Publishing Company, Inc., 1970.
Periodicals
Bean, M.C. "History of the Match," Antiques and Collecting Hobbies. September, 1992, pp. 42-44.
[Article by: Chris Cavette]
| Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: match |
| Columbia Encyclopedia: match |
| Wikipedia: Match |
A match is a consumable tool for lighting a fire in controlled circumstances on demand. Matches are readily available, being sold by tobacconists and many other kinds of shops. Matches are rarely sold singly; they are sold in multiples, packaged in match boxes or matchbooks. A match is typically a wooden stick (usually sold in match boxes) or stiff paper stick (usually sold in matchbooks) coated at one end (the match head) with a material often containing the element phosphorus, which will ignite from the heat of friction if rubbed ("struck") against a suitable surface.[1] Gelatin is used as a binder in match heads.
There are two main types of matches: safety matches, which can be struck only against a specially prepared surface; and strike-anywhere matches, for which any solid surface can be used.
Match-type compositions may also be used to produce electric matches, which are fired electrically. These items do not rely on the heat of friction.
Contents |
match: 1350–1400; Middle English macche (wick) < Middle French meiche, Old French mesche < Vulgar Latin *mesca (lamp wick), metathetic variant of Latin myxa < Greek mýxa, μυξα, (mucus, nostril, nozzle of a lamp)[2]
Historically, the term match referred to lengths of cord, or later cambric, impregnated with chemicals, and allowed to burn continuously.[1] These were used to light fires and set off guns and cannons. Such matches were characterised by their burning speed, e.g. quick match and slow match; depending on their formulation, they could provide burning rates of between, typically, 1 second and 15 seconds per centimetre.
The modern equivalent of this sort of match is the simple fuse, still used in pyrotechnics to obtain a controlled time delay before ignition. The original meaning of the word still persists in some pyrotechnics terms, such as black match (a black powder–impregnated fuse) and Bengal match (a firework producing a relatively long-burning, coloured flame). But, when friction matches were developed, they became the main object meant by the term.
Sulfur matches were apparently mentioned by Martial in ancient Rome (sulphurata)[3]
A predecessor of the match, small sticks of pinewood impregnated with sulfur, were invented in China in AD 577 by Northern Qi court ladies desperately out of tinder and looking for a means to start fires for cooking and heating while military forces of Northern Zhou and Chen besieged their city from outside.[4] During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907–960), a book called the Records of the Unworldly and the Strange written by Chinese author Tao Gu in about 950 stated:
If there occurs an emergency at night it may take some time to make a light to light a lamp. But an ingenious man devised the system of impregnating little sticks of pinewood with sulphur and storing them ready for use. At the slightest touch of fire they burst into flame. One gets a little flame like an ear of corn. This marvellous thing was formerly called a "light-bringing slave", but afterwards when it became an article of commerce its name was changed to 'fire inch-stick'.[4]
Matches also appeared in Europe by about 1530,[4] yet the first modern, self-igniting match was invented in 1805 by K. Chancel, assistant to Professor Louis Jacques Thénard of Paris. The head of the match consisted of a mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar, and rubber. They were ignited by dipping the tip of the match in a small asbestos bottle filled with sulfuric acid. This kind of match was quite expensive and its usage was dangerous, so Chancel's matches never gained much popularity.
The first "friction match" was invented by English chemist John Walker in 1826. Early work had been done by Robert Boyle and his assistant, Godfrey Haukweicz[5] in the 1680s with phosphorus and sulfur, but their efforts had not produced useful results. Walker discovered a mixture of antimony(III) sulfide or stibnite, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch could be ignited by striking against any rough surface. Walker called the matches congreves, but the process was patented by Samuel Jones and the matches were sold as lucifer matches. The early matches had a number of problems - the flame was unsteady and the initial reaction was disconcertingly violent; additionally, the odor produced by the burning match was unpleasant. It is described as a firework odor. Despite these problems, the new matches were responsible for a marked increase in the number of smokers[citation needed]. Lucifers reportedly could ignite explosively, sometimes throwing sparks at a considerable distance. In the Netherlands matches are still called lucifers.
In 1830, Frenchman Charles Sauria added white phosphorus to remove the odor. These new matches had to be kept in an airtight box but were popular. Unfortunately, those involved in the manufacture of the new matches were afflicted with phossy jaw and other bone disorders, and there was enough white phosphorus in one pack to kill a person. There was a vociferous campaign to ban these matches once the dangers became known.
The noiseless match was invented in 1836 by the Hungarian János Irinyi, who was a student of chemistry.[6] An unsuccessful experiment by his professor, Meissner, gave Irinyi the idea to replace potassium chlorate with lead dioxide[7] in the head of the phosphorus match.[6] He liquefied phosphorus in warm water and shook it in a glass foil, until it became granulated. He mixed the phosphorus with lead and gum arabic, poured the paste-like mass into a jar, and dipped the pine sticks into the mixture and let them dry. When he tried them that evening, all of them lit evenly. Irinyi thus invented the noiseless match and sold the invention to István Rómer, a match manufacturer. Rómer, a rich Hungarian pharmacist living in Vienna, bought the invention and production rights from Irinyi, the poor student, for 60 forints. The production of matches was now fully underway. István Rómer became richer off Irinyi's invention, and Irinyi himself went on to publish articles and a textbook on chemistry and founded several match factories.[6]
The early matches, including the noiseless match, were dangerous to both the users and the people who worked in the manufacturing companies that made them. This was due to the use of white phosphorus.
The search for a replacement for white phosphorus led to what was known as the "safety match." However, this term is now confusing as it covers both the modern safety match and the modern strike-anywhere match. These two different types of matches are discussed separately below.
Both of these types of matches were more expensive to make than white phosphorus-based matches, and customers continued to buy white-phosphorus based matches. Laws prohibiting the use of white phosphorus in matches generally had to be passed before these safer types of matches came into widespread usage. Finland banned white-phosphorus based matches in 1872; Denmark in 1874; Sweden in 1879; Switzerland in 1881 and the Netherlands in 1901.
An agreement, the Berne Convention, was reached at Berne, Switzerland, in 1906 to prohibit the use of white phosphorus in matches.[8] This required each country to pass laws prohibiting the use of white phosphorus in matches. Great Britain passed a law in 1908 prohibiting its use in matches after 31 December 1910. The United States did not pass a law, but instead placed a "punitive tax" on white phosphorus-based matches, one so high as to render their manufacture financially impractical, in 1913. India and Japan banned them in 1919; and China in 1925.
The safety match was invented in 1844 by the Swede Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788-1862) and was improved by Johan Edvard Lundström (1815-1888). Johan Edvard and his younger brother Carl Frans Lundström (1823-1917) started a large scale match industry in Jönköping around 1847, but the improved safety match was not introduced until around 1850-55. In 1858 their company produced around 12 million match boxes.
Their safety is due to the separation of the combustible ingredients between a match head on the end of a paraffin-impregnated splint and a special striking surface, and the replacement of white phosphorus with red phosphorus. The striking surface is composed of typically 25% powdered glass, 50% red phosphorus, 5% neutralizer, 4% carbon black and 16% binder; and the match head is typically composed of 45-55% potassium chlorate, with a little sulfur and starch, a neutralizer (ZnO or CaCO3), 20-40% of siliceous filler, diatomite and glue.[9] Some heads contain antimony(III) sulfide so they burn more vigorously. Safety matches ignite due to the extreme reactivity of phosphorus with the potassium chlorate in the match head. When the match is struck the phosphorus and chlorate mix in a small amount forming something similar to the explosive Armstrong's mixture which ignites due to the friction.
The Lundström brothers - Johan Edvard and Carl Frans - had obtained a sample of red phosphorus from Arthur Albright at The Great Exhibition, held at The Crystal Palace in 1851, and made safety matches with it.[10] They misplaced the matches and did not try them until just before the Paris Exhibition of 1855. They were still usable.[10]
The Swedes long held a virtual worldwide monopoly on safety matches, with the industry mainly situated in Jönköping, in 1903 called Jönköpings & Vulcans Tändsticksfabriks AB.[10] In France, they sold the rights to their safety match patent to Coigent Père & Fils of Lyon, but Coigent contested the payment in the French courts, on the basis that the invention was known in Vienna before the Lundström brothers patented it.[10] The British match manufacturer Bryant and May visited Jönköping in 1858 to try to obtain a supply of safety matches, but it was unsuccessful. In 1862 it established its own factory and bought the rights for the British safety match patent from the Lundström brothers.[10]
Safety matches are classified as dangerous goods, "U.N. 1944, Matches, safety," and they are not universally forbidden on aircraft; however, they must be declared as dangerous goods and individual airlines and/or countries may impose tighter restrictions.[11]
Two French chemists, Savene and Cahen, developed a safety match using phosphorus sesquisulfide. They proved that the substance was not poisonous, that it could be used in a "strike-anywhere" match, and that the match heads were not explosive.[10] They patented a safety match composition in 1898 based on phosphorus sesquisulfide and potassium chlorate.[10] Albright and Wilson developed a safe means of making commercial quantities of phosphorus sesquisulfide in the United Kingdom in 1899 and started selling it to match makers.[10]
In 1901 Albright and Wilson started making phosphorus sesquisulfide at their Niagara Falls plant for the U.S. market, but American manufacturers continued to use white phosphorus based matches.[10] The Niagara Falls plant stopped making it until 1910, when the United States Congress forbade the shipment of white phosphorus matches in interstate commerce.[10] At the same time the largest producer of matches in the USA granted free use, in the USA, of its phosphorus sesquisulfide safety match patents.[10] In 1913 Albright and Wilson also started making red phosphorus at Niagara Falls.[10]
Strike-anywhere matches are classified as dangerous goods, "U.N. 1331, Matches, strike-anywhere;" and their carriage is illegal on both passenger aircraft and cargo-only aircraft.[11]
The chemicals in the heads of matches have proven to be quite powerful in large numbers, thirty thousand (30,000) match-heads being sufficient to produce a 10-to-15-foot (3 to 5 m) fire column, compared to a 40-foot (10 m) burst with a million. On the television program MythBusters, special-effects experts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage proved that a satchel of sixty thousand (60,000) match-heads could send a 6-pound (3 kg) bowling ball flying 1,500 feet (500 m).[12] Hyneman and Savage both took great care to insist as strongly as they could that home viewers not attempt to duplicate their feat, owing to the obvious danger involved.
Storm matches, which are also known as lifeboat matches or flare matches and are a component of many a survival kit, have a strikeable tip like a normal match, but much of the remainder of the stick is coated with a combustible compound which will keep burning even in a strong wind. They have a wax coating to make them waterproof. They were also used in the first mass-produced Molotov cocktails.
"Bengal matches" are actually small hand-held fireworks akin to sparklers. They are similar to storm matches in form, but they include compounds of strontium or barium in the compound on the stick to produce a red or green flame respectively.
The development of a specialized "matchbook" with both matches and a striking surface did not occur until the 1890s with the American Joshua Pusey, who later sold his patent to the Diamond Match Company. The Diamond Match Company was later bought by Bryant and May.
The hobby of collecting match-related items, such as matchcovers and matchbox labels, is called phillumeny.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Match |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Shopping: match |
 | clash |
| match-coat |
| phillumenist |
 | What is matching hypothesis? Read answer... |
| Is she your perfect match? Read answer... |
| How does a match burn? Read answer... |
Copyrights:
 |
 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| How Products are Made. How Products are Made. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. © 1981-2009 Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Match". Read more |
Mentioned in
