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[–] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

Air is on fire.

...

Unless the fire was in space I suppose - which can't happen, so yeah, air is always on top of fire.

Edit: nope, I was wrong. Air is not always on top of fire :-P.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    What about chemicals that create their own oxygen source when burning?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    The reaction propagation is always from the ignition source to the media, so the 'fire' is always on the outside. Even if the inside is in the process of quickly becoming the outside.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    No, I get that. Not why I asked the question.

    If you have a compound like potassium super oxide chatch light in a vacuum, does it still burn because it has it's own oxidizer?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    By itself in a vacuum, no. Under gas pressure, when contacted by water it will react from the point of contact until all reactants are complete. I wouldn't consider the reaction to be 'fire' though. At least not personally. Drop some hydrocarbons in the mix and you'll get a fire as the oxygen produced gets something to react with.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Speaking from experience with Potassium Superoxide, once it goes up the flames are impressive in atmosphere.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    I would absolutely expect that to be true. Generate enough oxygen, and damn near everything suddenly wants to be a gas that's paired with it.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Yes, that is how rockets get to space, for example. Earth's atmo is ~21% Oxygen. So that is giving flames a boost. Careful not conflate "burn" with the presence of flames. In a vacuum, the flame could only exist briefly because there isnt the available Oxygen from the air. The reaction will (or might?) still happen, but without the oxygen to produce a flame.

    BTW, this has been studied in microgravity aboard the ISS.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    That's nothing, in Scandinavia it's "there is fire in things".

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Fire is the energy emitted from converting the molecules to carbon

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Converting the hydrocarbons to CO2 and H2O, yes.

    Also, just found out that the red and yellow "flames" are actually heated soot that's glowing, like metal glows when heated. That's why "hotter" fires glow blue, that's actually the chemical of the gasses burning and less soot is being produced. That's why it's counter intuitive why colder flames glow brighter than hotter ones.

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  • Yeah but then where is shorty fire burning?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    My mum says I'm fire

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    A hot air balloon is kind of on fire, at least when the burner is running

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Fire blanket, it’s briefly “on” fire, until it isn’t anymore. Or until fire is on it too. Fire blankets are the liminal spaces of fire.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    If fire is on my ass hair then isn’t my ass on fire?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (2 children)

    Is fire even a thing or just, like, a symptom? Like shadow and cold don't actually exist, they just describe the absence of light and heat respectively. 🤔

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