how does it happen?

Question

What causes spontaneous combustion and is it rare?

i mean when a person randomly bursts into flames. southpark said it is when u hold in flatulence but i highly doubt thats true.
Taylyn, 14

Answer 1

Spontaneous combustion occurs when the flammable material itself creates the heat needed to set it aflame. The well-known everyday example is oily rags confined to a small, ill-ventilated space. Chemical reactions in the oil produce heat, which can set the oily rags aflame.

Answer 2

I'm not a big fan of the term spontaneous combustion because the term to me at least implies that there was no source of ignition. If there is no apparent cause of a fire it is said to have started by spontaneous combustion. Oily rags can burst into flames suddenly but that is a chemical reaction caused by the different chemicals within the oils. As for spontaneous human combustion I consider that to be a myth. There may be documented case of it happening but we humans make poor fuel for a fire due mainly to the fact that we are mostly water. So unless electrololisis occurs within our bodies I remain very skeptical about spontaneous human combustion.

Answer 3

all atoms vibrate. Normally they all vibrate in random directions, but if they vibrate in one particular direction, it causes a chain reaction - this is spontaneous combustion. It is obviously extremely rare.

Answer 4

The self-ignition, or apparent self-ignition, and burning of any mass; often of highly flammable materials, such as a pile of oily rags.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_combustion
There are different things that spontaneous combustion can refer to, you are probably referring just to the combustion link on this page, but I am not sure.

Answer 6

i dont think its been oficially proven...?