Fire From a Soda Can.
An interesting "survival project" that I received from a reader. How to make fire using a soda can. (7/2/2006)
I received an e-mail from Shawn Kelly recommending me the website http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar That site, created by Walter Muma, talks about wildwood survival. That specific page shows how to make fire using a soda can and a chocolate bar.
On 1995, I wrote a science fiction novel where the "hero" uses a soda can that found on the middle of the desert (yeah, you can find junk anywhere on this planet) and used it to burn important documents. I wrote that after doing some tests with soda cans but I never polished and I was able to burn only black paper, so I decided to try this time to make a fire following the instructions on that website.
First, I got a soda can and a chocolate bar.What?
where is the chocolate bar?
I ate it. I was not able to resist the temptation. So I used toothpaste instead.
Second, I started to polish the botton of the can, after a few seconds, the number were gone. I polished it during five minutes and three minutes resting.
After a while, the gray color of the aluminium is evident. I had to use little water because the toothpaste dries quickly. I continued to polish it during 20 minutes until I became tired.
After 20 minutes, here is the botton of the can polished. I think chocolate provides better results because it polishes and wax the surface. I thought that was enough and I decided to tried, so I went to the backyard and tested it. Here is the results:
Nahhh... Just joking. The weather didn't help. Of course, you can't get fire without the sun. I will finish it someday.
As you can see this project is dangerous, this is not for kids. It may take hours to get the botton of the can polished as a mirror. I think this experience can be used to make a reflection telescope.
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