what would fire look like in space?

Question

For example- when you see spaceships blow up in movies, there is a big explosion- but I thought that you needed oxygen as a fuel for fire?

Also, if 0 gravity, water goes into dreoplets- what would fire look like in 0 gravity?

Just curious...

Answer 1

Presumably it's the oxygen supply in the movie spaceship that's allowing the explosion to take place. Remember also that oxygen is conceivably an element in some of the ship's components so that'll burn too.

Flames in zero gravity look pretty weak. The warmed air, still weighing the same as the cold air (that is, zero), doesn't rise and allow new air to enter the flame zone. Also the flame looks like a sphere rather than the teardrop shape you're used to.

Answer 2

I think that if you took a container with an explosive mixture - fuel and oxygen - and ignited it - yes it would expand more or less as a ball - but highly irregular, The material of the container would contain minute imperfections that would cause it break apart in a more or less unpredictable fashion, then the randomly distributed heavy particles of the material would absorb some momentum from the hot gas, slowing some pockets of gas - whilst allowing others to blast away at higher speeds.
But once away from the energetic core the hot gas will travel in straight lines - no wind, no gravity no friction to slow - so move apart as an expanding ball and cooling as it expands.
Probably not unlike a big firework without gravity pulling all the ends of the trails downwards.

Answer 3

It would probably be more of a flash as the fire consumed the oxygen from within the craft before the fuel/gas quickly became dissipated and therefore not dense enough (and too cool for that matter) to continue to combust.

As for fire in zero gravity, it would theoretically be spherical, and the energy would radiate away. Exactly like a star in fact!

Answer 4

When we see spaceships blow up, i dont think there is actual fire, just an explosion of the oxygen and fuel on the ship and debris etc.

so fire wouldnt look like anything as it cant be there, in the way we know fire to look like.

Answer 5

Real footage shows the same thing because there is oxygen in space at the time of the explosion.Where you ask? The oxygen that is in the spacecraft that is blowing up obviously. Of course it is extinguished very quickly because that oxygen is burned up and used in seconds after an explosion.
The sun is hydrogen based nuclear explosions that happen in its core.
A flame in Zero G would be weaker and have a spherical shape to it.

Answer 6

Usual fire needs oxygen to be formed. If you can supply oxygen (e.g. in outlet of a missile), I think there isn't difference between fire in space and fire on the ground.

Answer 7

You wouldn't get real fire like you know.
You can see flame out the back of a rocket engine, but rockets "bring their own oxygen" in chemical form.
Try and get video of rockets separating in space, or the Lunae LEM taking off from the moon.

Answer 8

with the help of your parameters, 0 gravity yet with oxygen - the flame could appear like it does in the worldwide. around globular different than for the desirable the place the nice and comfortable oxygen (you assert is there) rises. Gravity doesn make the flame a ball so why ought to or no longer this is a ball without gravity?

Answer 9

It couldn't obtained fire in space because no oxygen in space to burn it.

Answer 10

You can't have fire in space as there isn't any oxygen for it to burn.