Question

Oxy-hydrogen flame is used for welding and cutting metals. Give reasons.

Answer 1

Hint: As the name suggests, oxy-hydrogen flame is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, which burns at a very high temperature.

Complete step by step answer:
Oxy-hydrogen is a mixture of hydrogen \[\text{(}{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}})\] and oxygen \[\text{(}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}})\] gases. This mixture is also known as ‘Knall-gas’. It is obtained by either electrolysis or combustion.
Since both gases are combustible, it increases combustion. Hydrogen gas readily burns in oxygen or air along with the formation of water. The flame produced is neutral and it increases temperature. The flame has a temperature of around 2800 degree Celsius. At this temperature, metal tends to melt very easily. Therefore, it is generally used for cutting and melting metal.
It is also known as an oxyhydrogen torch because it is an oxy-gas torch which burns hydrogen (acts as a fuel) with oxygen (acts as an oxidizer).
Therefore, it is widely used to process the factory materials. This gaseous mixture is also used for torches to process refractory materials. It is used for cutting and welding materials such as metal, glass and thermoplastics.

Note: The quantity of heat evolved by combustion of oxyhydrogen is approximately 34,116 calories for each gram of hydrogen burned. This heat-disturbance is independent of the mode in which the process is conducted. Nevertheless, the temperature of the flame is dependent on the circumstances under which the process takes place.