What is a Ferrocerium Rod

Ferrocerium is used in fire lighting in conjunction with a striker, similarly to natural flint & steel, through ferrocerium takes on the opposite role to the traditional system, instead of natural flint rock striking tiny iron particles from a fire steel, a striker (which may be in the form of hardened steel wheel) strikes particles of a ferrocerium off of the "flint". This manual rubbing action creates a spark due to cerium's low ignition temperature between 150 -180 *C or 302 -356 *F. Any material that is harder than the rod itself may be used to produce sparks. Though the striker must have a sharp edge or corner in order to produce sparks, carbon steel is not required. The idea that carbon steel is needed to produce sparks from a ferrocerium rod is an oft repeated myth. Though carbon steel does make the spark more prevalent when striking. A ferrocerium has many applications such as the ignition sources for Lighters, strikers for gas welding & cutting torches, deoxidization in metallurgy, & ferroceriums rods. Because of ferroceriums ability to ignite in adverse conditions, rods of ferrocerium (also called ferro rods, spark rods, & flint-spark-lighters are commonly used as an emergency fire lighting device in survival kits. Ferrocerium also known in Europe as Auermetall is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy of mischmetal (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, other trace lanthanides and some iron - about 95% & 5% iron) and or magnesium. When struck with a harder material, friction produces hot fragments that oxidize rapidly when exposed to oxygen in the air, producing sparks that can reach temperatures of 3,315 degrees the effect is due to the low ignition temperatures of cerium, between 150- and 180-degrees Celsius & 302-356 degrees. The Ferrocerium alloy invented in 1903 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach it takes its name from its two primary components: iron (from Latin: Ferrum,) and the rare - earth element cerium which is the most prevalent of the lanthanides in the mixture.