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The thermite reaction is the reaction of metal oxide with the aluminium. The aluminium acts as a reducing agent and the reaction is highly exothermic and hence called a thermite reaction.

The aluminium reduces the oxide of another metal, most of the times, it is iron oxide (FeO) because aluminium is highly reactive. The reaction involved can be shown as:

Fe₂O₃ + 2Al ? 2Fe + Al₂O₃