The reaction of a metal ‘X’ with Fe2O3 is highly exothermic and is used to join broken railway, tracks. Identify metal ‘X’. Write the balanced chemical equation of its reaction with Fe2O3. State the special name given to this reaction.
The reaction of iron oxide, Fe2O3 with aluminium (Al) is highly exothermic reaction and is used to join broken railway tracks or cracked machine parts. Hence, the metal ‘X’ is Al.
The reaction is given below:
Fe2O3 + 2Al → 2Fe + Al2O3 + Heat
The above reaction is known as the thermit reaction.