4 ms·

> what is fire Funny you ask, this was the most frustrating question in my childhood because no one could give a satisfactory answer of what exactly is the vis

> what is fire Funny you ask, this was the most frustrating question in my childhood because no one could give a satisfactory answer of what exactly is the visible part of fire or whether it even exists as a body.

mjburgess 2y ago
fire is a fundamentally organic phenomenon. you heat dry organic material until there's a gas-like emission of particles, these are then nearly instantaneous oxidised causing more light and heat. The emission of heat and light in this gas-like state ("plasma") then causes more emission and so on.
- jcynix 2y ago
  You can burn certain metals (magnesium, sodium, sulfur, even iron (wool)) neither of which is "organic". So fire isn't a fundamentally organic phenomenon ...
  - mjburgess 2y ago
    Well I meant several things with that claim, which is why, per the theme of the thread, you cannot summarise these matters in cute sentences. Fire is only possible in an atmosphere with extraordinarily high accumulations of oxygen on planets with an atmosphere, etc. The only known process to bring this about, as far as I know, is life. Generically, lighting is the 'original' fire on earth. But I take it the commentor was thinking more in their school days of the sustained sort of burning commonly called 'fire'.
    - nanomonkey 2y ago
      While oxygen is the most common oxidizer, it's entirely possible to have combustion without it. Such as utilizing halogens.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- throwaway173738 2y ago
  The part about emission of light from a plane is basically correct. It’s really about oxidation producing energy, and that energy pushing electrons well out of their orbitals, and then the thermalization of electrons resulting in transmission of electromagnetic radiation in the visible and infrared spectrum.
sseagull 2y ago
This is the genesis of the “Flame Challenge” by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science (yes, that Alan Alda). https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/alda-center/thelink/posts/The_Flame_Challenge.php https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/alda-center/thelink/posts...

mjburgess 2y ago

fire is a fundamentally organic phenomenon. you heat dry organic material until there's a gas-like emission of particles, these are then nearly instantaneous oxidised causing more light and heat. The emission of heat and light in this gas-like state ("plasma") then causes more emission and so on.

jcynix 2y ago
You can burn certain metals (magnesium, sodium, sulfur, even iron (wool)) neither of which is "organic". So fire isn't a fundamentally organic phenomenon ...
- mjburgess 2y ago
  Well I meant several things with that claim, which is why, per the theme of the thread, you cannot summarise these matters in cute sentences. Fire is only possible in an atmosphere with extraordinarily high accumulations of oxygen on planets with an atmosphere, etc. The only known process to bring this about, as far as I know, is life. Generically, lighting is the 'original' fire on earth. But I take it the commentor was thinking more in their school days of the sustained sort of burning commonly called 'fire'.
  - nanomonkey 2y ago
    While oxygen is the most common oxidizer, it's entirely possible to have combustion without it. Such as utilizing halogens.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
throwaway173738 2y ago
The part about emission of light from a plane is basically correct. It’s really about oxidation producing energy, and that energy pushing electrons well out of their orbitals, and then the thermalization of electrons resulting in transmission of electromagnetic radiation in the visible and infrared spectrum.

sseagull 2y ago

This is the genesis of the “Flame Challenge” by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science (yes, that Alan Alda). https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/alda-center/thelink/posts/The_Flame_Challenge.php https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/alda-center/thelink/posts...