Yeah, I was gonna impress my boys... 11 and 14 yrs old. I got out some steel wool and asked if they knew what it was. No.  "It's steel wool", I said.  11-yo said, "OH! You can light it with a battery." So much for surprising kids these days, eh? <div>On 8/30/07, Kenneth Jankura <<a href="mailto:kenrpt@earthlink.net">kenrpt@earthlink.net</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I remember one of my projects for grade school science class was burning a piece of steel wool to show something or other about rapid oxidation. (For some less-than-well-thought-out reason, we were given carte blanche what to pick for a science project, as if you couldn't guess.)   It's not the oils that burn, it's the steel itself. Anyway, youtube has a bunch of films like these: <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yvw5epSmH3Q">http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yvw5epSmH3Q</a> <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=ElqYJ654eq4">http://youtube.com/watch?v=ElqYJ654eq4 </a> Yes, be very very careful. And have fun.... Ken Jankura RPT Newville, PA On Aug 29, 2007, at 8:43 AM, Andrew Remillard wrote: > > > There are oils in steel wool which obviously burn.  You can also > ignite it using a 9 volt battery. > > > -- > Andrew Remillard > ANRPiano.com > 5008 Fairview Ave > Downers Grove, IL  60515 > 630-852-5058 </blockquote></div>