Video: That Old Titanium Burner Driver Could Spark A Bush Fire!
Scientists at the University of California, have concluded that titanium drivers can cause fires.
That spark we have all seen when a titanium driver brushes a hard surface is hot enough, according to boffins, to start a fire if the course conditions were dry enough.
It’s long been thought that driver strikes sparked two mysterious fires at US golf courses though according to Christopher Weber investigators who were "laughed at" when they proposed the theory.
Scientists painstakingly re-created in the lab course the conditions on the days of the fires. Using high-speed cameras and electron microscopes, they found that if hit upon a rock, clubs containing titanium can produce sparks of up to 3,000 degrees that will burn for more than a second, said James Earthman, a chemical engineering and materials science professor and an author of the study.
"And that gives the spark plenty of time" to ignite nearby foliage, he said. "Titanium reacts violently with both oxygen and nitrogen in the air."
Here’s the phenomenon in practice.
Those using non titanium golf clubs need not worry. Nor if you play golf in Ireland!
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