Editing Raku ware (section)

==Reduction process ==
Reduction firing is when the kiln atmosphere, which is full of combustible material, is heated up. "Reduction is incomplete combustion of fuel, caused by a shortage of oxygen, which produces carbon monoxide" (Arbuckle, 4). Eventually, all of the available oxygen is used. This then draws oxygen from the glaze and the clay to allow the reaction to continue. Oxygen serves as the limiting reactant in this scenario because the reaction that creates fire needs a constant supply of it to continue; when the glaze and the clay come out hardened, this means that the oxygen was subtracted from the glaze and the clay to accommodate the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. Consequently, the Raku piece appears black or white, depending on the amount of oxygen that was lost from each area of the piece. The empty spaces that occur from the reduction of oxygen are filled in by carbon molecules in the atmosphere of the container, which makes the piece blacker in spots where more oxygen was retracted.<ref>Arbuckle. "Reduction Firing." Reduction Firing. Web. 6 May 2010. <http://lindaarbuckle.com/handouts/reduction_fire.pdf>.</ref><ref>"Oxidation/Reduction Firing." Frog Pond Pottery. Web. 29 May 2010. {{cite web |url=http://www.frogpondpottery.com/pottalk/oxred.htm |title=Oxidation/Reduction Firing |access-date=2010-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402072619/http://www.frogpondpottery.com/pottalk/oxred.htm |archive-date=2 April 2010}}.</ref>