the.com/oxidizer
the chemical that doesn't burn but makes everything else desperate to.
means A substance that drives oxidation by accepting electrons or supplying oxygen, enabling or accelerating combustion in other materials.
from Built on "oxidize" plus the agent suffix "-er." "Oxidize" traces to "oxygen," a word coined in the late 18th century by the French chemist Lavoisier from Greek "oxys" (sharp, acid) and "-genes" (forming) — he believed oxygen was the essential acid-maker, a guess later shown to be wrong, though the name stuck. So an "oxidizer" literally means "the thing that makes acid-stuff," a fossil of an old chemical misunderstanding still hard at work today.
- rocket secret
- Rockets carry their own oxidizer to breathe in vacuum
- not just oxygen
- Fluorine outpaces oxygen as a greedier oxidizer
- liquid fury
- Liquid oxygen tanks chill below minus 180 Celsius
- hypergolic
- Some oxidizers ignite fuel on contact, no spark
- everyday villain
- Rust is just slow-motion oxidation eating your car
liquid oxygen — used in saturn v rockets since 1967, burns fuel at extreme temperatures
hydrogen peroxide — common industrial oxidizer in bleach and rocket fuel, concentrated form used in spacex engines
potassium permanganate — deep purple oxidizer used in water purification and explosives since the 1800s
chlorine gas — powerful oxidizer used in water treatment and industrial processes worldwide