What exactly is fire?

Question

I know fire is caused by a chemical reaction with the fuel and the heat but what exactaly is the fire itself? Is it a gas, suspended particles? What?

Answer 1

Well, Fire is a lot easier to understand than one would think.
Fire is a visible, tangible side effect of matter changing form...it's one part of a chemical reaction.

Typically, fire comes from a chemical reaction between oxygen in the atmosphere and some sort of fuel (wood or gasoline, for example). Of course, wood and gasoline don't spontaneously catch on fire just because they're surrounded by oxygen. For the combustion reaction to happen, you have to heat the fuel to its ignition temperature


Wood which is 6C-10-h-15-o7 --> gas 10CH-2-o = Burnt wood
Which I think is C-50-H-10-o

The actual burning of wood then happens in two separate reactions:
When the volatile gases are hot enough (about 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) for wood), the compound molecules break apart, and the atoms recombine with the oxygen to form water, carbon dioxide and other products. In other words, they burn.
The carbon in the char combines with oxygen as well, and this is a much slower reaction. That is why charcoal in a BBQ can stay hot for a long time.
A side effect of these chemical reactions is a lot of heat. The fact that the chemical reactions in a fire generate a lot of new heat is what sustains the fire

On Earth, gravity determines how the flame burns. All the hot gases in the flame are much hotter (and less dense) than the surrounding air, so they move upward toward lower pressure. This is why fire typically spreads upward, and it's also why flames are always "pointed" at the top.

You might want to look up Fire Variables. It would give you an even more indept knowledge of Fire.

Answer 2

A rapid, persistent chemical change that releases heat and light and is accompanied by flame, especially the exothermic oxidation of a combustible substance.

phenomenon associated with the chemical reaction of a gas that has been heated above its kindling temperature with some other gas, usually atmospheric oxygen (see combustion). The heat and light given off are characteristic of the specific chemical reaction (or reactions) going on; the luminosity of the flame is usually caused by solid particles of foreign matter present (naturally or artificially) in the burning gas and heated to incandescence; and the shape of the flame is commonly that of a hollow cone. The simple flame occurring when a single gas, such as hydrogen, burns in another gas, such as air, shows two areas, or zones: an inner, cone-shaped area consisting of unburned gas; and an outer area in which the chemical reaction (the combination of hydrogen and oxygen to form water) is taking place. Furthermore, the flame is nonluminous and therefore very hot, since the chemical energy is nearly all transformed into heat energy. This reaction is illustrated in the flame of the oxyhydrogen blowpipe. The flame of the oxyacetylene torch is also extremely hot. A decrease in light with an increase in heat is brought about in the Bunsen burner flame (a more complex flame) by mixing the combustible gas with air before it is ignited. Flames become more complex as the combustible gas increases in complexity, since an increasing number of chemical reactions are involved. Three zones, for example, are apparent in the Bunsen burner flame: an inner zone of unburned gas; a middle zone called the reduction zone or reducing flame, since there the supply of oxygen is deficient and the oxygen is therefore removed from an oxide placed in it; and an outer, or oxidizing, zone. The candle flame is extremely complex. Several zones can be observed: a nonluminous inner portion where the melted wax produces gases; a middle area where the gases are decomposed to hydrogen, which burns, and carbon, which is heated to incandescence; and an outer, hardly visible region in which combustion is complete (carbon dioxide and water being formed). Flames are colored by the introduction of various substances, a fact utilized in the flame test for the identification of certain metals.

Answer 3

Fire is a form of combustion. Most typically, the word fire refers to the combination of the brilliant glow and large amount of heat released during a rapid, self-sustaining exothermic oxidation process of combustible gases ejected from a fuel. The flames are a body of gas that releases heat and light. Fires start when a fuel is subjected to heat or another energy source, e.g. a match or lighter, and are sustained by the further release of heat energy until all the combustible fuel is consumed.

Answer 4

If you mean flame. It is suspended particles of usually carbon that have been heated to glow by the energy released by the reaction. The colour of the flame is dependent on the heat - blue flames are generally hotter and any other elements in the flame. Example - you'd get green flames if copper was present.

Answer 5

What you are actually looking at when you "see" fire is the spectral (or light) emission from the atoms and molecules involved in the reaction that is happening. If there is an atom of sodium in there, as an example, the energy created by the combustion causes the Na atom to emit light that looks yellow.

Hope that helps

Answer 6

Fire by definition is a hot gas. It is the chemical reaction of two different elements. They are combining and thus releasing energy.

Answer 7

by the fire itself i assume you mean the flame. a flame is the visible, luminous, glowing body of a burning gas.

Answer 8

Try looking up the word photons

Answer 9

Fire = rapid oxidation

Answer 10

fire is an energy nd not any type of matter