What form of matter is Fire - solid, liquid or gas?

Answer 1

None of them!

Fire is a chemical process in which a matter which is in Solid or Liquid or Gaseous form changes its state from one to the other and evolves heat during this process.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What form of matter is Fire - solid, liquid or gas?

Answer 3

Fire can have many phases of matter in it. For the most part, complete combustion will create gaseous CO2 and H2O, while incomplete combustion will create those two gases along with CO gas and perhaps soot. In fact, the reddish glow in a flame indicates that an incomplete combustion is taking place and soot (which is a solid) is being formed. So technically you can say that solid and gas forms of matter are in fire, solid from soot, gas from CO2, H2O or CO. With complete combustion however, only gaseous CO2 and water are formed.

Answer 4

Fire, or perhaps I should say "flame," is a very hot gas. It is composed primarily of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. In a solid, the molecules are chemically bound to one another. In a liquid, the molecules are not bound, but are so tightly packed that they interact strongly with their neighbors. Gas molecules are widely spaced and interact only fleetingly with other molecules, like colliding billiard balls.

Oxygen and nitrogen don't become liquids until you cool them to temperatures below what can be found naturally on the Earth. If you pressurize carbon dioxide, you can make it solid (dry ice), but it cannot exist as a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, which is why it "sublimates" into that spooky vapor rather than melting (thus "dry"). We are all familiar with the phases of water. Spray a small amount of water into a good fire, and I guarantee it will not stay a liquid.

When an organic materical (wood, wax, alcohol, etc.) burns, the bonds holding the carbon and hydrogen in the material are broken. The released atoms combine with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). The process is called oxidation, and gives off heat. The gas can reach a temperature over 1000 F (540 C). The hot gas rises, and more nitrogen and oxygen are drawn in at the base of the flame. The influx of oxygen allows the oxidation to continue.

Some of the energy in this heat is absorbed by the electrons in the gas. The electrons then radiate this energy as light, which is what we see. Extremely hot gas will radiate blue light, such as you see at the base of a candle. As the gas cools, the color changes to yellow, then orange, then red. When it cools enough that the electrons are back in their lowest energy state, the radiation falls into the infrared, which we can't see but feel as radiant heat. This radiation comes from the vibration of the molecules rather than from the electrons.

You can also change the color of the flame by injecting different materials into it. Each element (type of atom) has its own set of wavelengths (colors) at which it radiates. This is usually seen in the "cooler" part of the flame, where you might see green or red instead of orange, because it is at these cooler temperatures where the differences between elements are most significant.

The radiation from the hot gas also contributes to maintaining the fuel temperature required for oxidation to continue. If this radiative feedback disappears (in other words the flame dies), then the chemical reaction can't continue freely.


A long answer to your question, I know, but fire holds a funny place in people's minds. At one point in history, it was considered one of the elemental components of matter, along with earth, air, and water. It is still not uncommon for people to think it is some exotic state of matter. In fact, it is just a very hot gas, hot enough to give off light.

Another explanation

The ancient Greeks and alchemists thought that fire was an element. They also considered earth, air, and water to be elements. However, the modern definition of an element defines it by the number of protons a pure substance possesses. Fire is made up of many different substances, so it is not an element.
For the most part, fire is a mixture of hot gases. Flames are the result of a chemical reaction, primarily between oxygen in air and a fuel, such as wood or propane. In addition to other products, the reaction produces carbon dioxide, steam, light, and heat. If the flame is hot enough, the gases are ionized and become yet another state of matter: plasma.

Answer 5

Fire State Of Matter

Answer 6

Fire istelf is not matter, it's a chemical reaction, in which some of the matter wil change states due to temperature. generally, if you ignite a solid substance some of it will turn to liquid or gas, but if it isn't hot enough some will remain soild, but the reaction itself isn't a state of matter.

Answer 7

Fire is pure energy, not liquid, solid or gas. Thats what my science teacher told me in HS.

Answer 8

fire is energy and energy cannot be expressed in form of solid, liquid or gas

Answer 9

I think that we devide supstances into solid, liquid, or gas or plazma.
But, flame is another type of matter: field; so there is no point in calssifying it in this manner.
Could anyone correct me if i`m wrong.

Answer 10

Fire is niether solid, liquid or gas. It is energy, sometimes it is also refered to as the plasma state.