Fire!!!!

thomate1

Dear friends,
I am a undergraduate studying physics.Until now I have a doubt which I was not able to tackle. What is fire ?

Erienion

Fire is a general term describing combustion with oxygen.

Start with a physical description of what you know about fire and its properties.

HallsofIvy

More of chemistry problem than a physics problem- fire is an "exothermic oxygenation reaction"- that ought to impress your teacher!

dextercioby

Had you asked about what is flame? ,the answer would have been:a plasma of various temperature...

Daniel.

cepheid

Can this be clarified further? I've always been told that the exothermic combustion reaction releases energy in the form of light and heat, and that is what we see. But what of the flame itself? Is it physical, i.e. made up of matter, as dexter said? I tend to believe him, just looking at the structure it seems to have and the way it flickers and moves. But what physical matter that constitutes the flame is glowing? Ionised gas eh? From where? Thanks. It is just something I have always wondered about. The smoke is not puzzling...particulates from whatever the fuel source is (wood, etc). The flame, however, is.

dextercioby

Yes,it's a plasma,as i said and as any physics student learns in first lecture on plasma physics.A mixture of all possible microscopical objects.Heat is just KE of the components,while visible (and not) radiation comes from the continuous ionization & recombination of electrons,ions,atoms & molecules.

Daniel.

thomate1

Thanks for your answers