What is fire?
Fire it up! We explain hot stuff. Video of a candle in microgravity: http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/IMAGES/QTVR/0601309.mov Tweet it - http://bit.ly/pOz9Dn Facebook it - http://on.fb.me/n0pCUE...
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We know that fire results from the combustion of organic material and air, but don't youstill sometimes wonder what fire is? Why are gas flames blue and wood-fire orange? Andwhy do flames move in such a mesmerizing way? Chemistry may tell us the recipe for combustion,but the light show is all physics.When a flame burns cleanly (like a gas flame, blowtorch or the base of a candle), the heatexcites the molecules to release light (usually pale-blue) from atomic transitions. That'squantum mechanics!Now when the fuel isn't as pure and doesn't entirely burn (like a wood or coal fire orthe top of a candle flame), there's still some blue light, but you don't see it becauseit's overpowered by light from all the particles of so...
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We know that fire results from the combustion of organic material and air, but don't youstill sometimes wonder what fire is? Why are gas flames blue and wood-fire orange? Andwhy do flames move in such a mesmerizing way? Chemistry may tell us the recipe for combustion,but the light show is all physics.When a flame burns cleanly (like a gas flame, blowtorch or the base of a candle), the heatexcites the molecules to release light (usually pale-blue) from atomic transitions. That'squantum mechanics!Now when the fuel isn't as pure and doesn't entirely burn (like a wood or coal fire orthe top of a candle flame), there's still some blue light, but you don't see it becauseit's overpowered by light from all the particles of so...
