What type of particles is fire made up of?

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The discussion centers on the composition of fire, concluding that fire is primarily a reaction rather than a collection of particles. It is characterized as a mixture of hot gases and heated particles, particularly carbon, depending on the source of the fire. The flame emits energy in the form of photons due to reactions between fuel and oxygen, and fire can be described as a form of energy rather than matter. The conversation also touches on concepts such as black-body radiation and the behavior of molecules during combustion.

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What type of particles is fire made up of?
 
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It depends on the source. For example the fire on a stove burner is all hot gases, while from a fireplace is a mixture of hot gas and heated particles, where the latter is mainly carbon.
 
fire is mostly energy.
 
Er... hmm. Define energy.

Fire is a reaction, a process - it is not made up of particles. You can't store a bit of fire. The flame we see from fire is energy in the form of photons given out from reactions that are occurring between the fuel and oxygen in the air.
 
I was told that fire is matter in the plasma phase (the 4th phase of matter to which gas is transformed when it is sufficiently heated). Then, I was told that this is wrong. Most recently I have decided that fire is basically what mathman has said. Then, in the case of burning wood, you could explain the orange-red glow as approximately black-body radiation.
 
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I heard that the carbon molecules in a fuel are accellerated so fast they break their covelant bonds, and become a gas. The gas rises and is so hot it emits photons, which is the light. As it rises, their is a small low pressure zone in the center of the fire, and that's why it's pointed. I learned this from How Stuff Works.
 
In the process of fire molecules are broken up to form free radicals and ions, and these recombine to form different molecules which have less internal energy, therby releasing energy in the form of heat.
 
EIRE2003 said:
What type of particles is fire made up of?

Anything that burns, it can be carbon, hydrogen, Na natrium (burns in water) plus oxygen or any other agent that acts like oxygen. Flame is a mainly gaseous chemical reaction aura around any material that reacts with any agent like oxygen creating excess heat.
 
Fire is a form of energy so, it would not be made-up of particles. I am not sure that anyone could find out what fire is made of, unless you want to put it under your microscope and find out.
 
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Yggdrasil said:
Fire is a form of energy so, it would not be made-up of particles. I am not sure that anyone could find out what fire is made of, unless you want to put it under your microscope and find out.

Challenging idea, Bingo! Well whatever is the fire itself made of, the final result is sut, water, etc. etc.
 

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