08f38eba   
   XPost: sci.electronics.misc, sci.chem, sci.engr.mech   
   XPost: sci.physics   
   From: nospam@sonic.net   
      
   RichD wrote:   
   >   
   > I like to do these little basic science quizzes - man   
   > in the street - I've posted a few here, previously.   
   >   
   > How does a cigarette lighter work?  People   
   > recognize that the spark ignites the flame.   
      
   Do you know the answer to your own question?   
   The inventor of the lighter flint was a famous   
   Austrian chemist from a family of famous Austrian   
   chemists.  He established a very successful company   
   making lighter flints, which became involved with   
   the German project to build a nuclear bomb during WW2.   
   (A critical material for lighter flints comes from   
   a radioactive mineral.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)