Energy from combustion of element

[PhDorBust]

So I was reading about lightbulbs... and if I broke the bulb so that oxygen came onto the heated filament, I understand that the tungsten would combust. But how would I figure out how much energy would be given off? Would this cause a fire?

I have no chemistry training so be gentle!

[cragar]

well you could use calorimetry , you could put a beaker of water near the light bulb before it combusts , and not very much water in the beaker and a calorie is the amount of heat energy required to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Kelvin , then you could measure how much water you put in the beaker and the temperature change in the water and then you would know how many calories were given off . This may not work that well . But its all i could think of .