Ferrocerium is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy that produces hot sparks that can reach temperatures of when rapidly oxidized by the process of striking the rod, thereby fragmenting it and exposing those fragments to the oxygen in the air. This property allows it to have many commercial applications, such as the ignition source for lighters (where it is often known by the misleading name "flint"), strikers for gas welding and cutting torches, deoxidization in metallurgy, and ferrocerium rods (also called ferro rods, flint-spark-lighters and wrongly "flint-and-steel" as this is the name of a different type of lighter using a section of high carbon steel and a natural flint). Due to ferrocerium's ability to ignite in adverse conditions, rods of ferrocerium are commonly used as an emergency combustion device in survival kits.