What is Fire ?

The flicker and crackle of a fire is mesmerizing and the curiosity of mankind to discover beyond the plethora of knowledge has always allowed it to go beyond and evolve.

Early humans of stone age, unlike the animals who were afraid of it, but instead we had the mettle and audacity to play with one of the forces of nature itself as we took those burning flames right in our hands.

From bonfires to candles and simple lanterns.

From cooking to mechanizing this source of power into transportation vehicles and the ultimate breakthrough of science - the steam engine.

Leading to the next industrial revolution and today's atomic age of science.

Man has always been fascinated by these vibrant flames. No matter where you live whether you are making food, or the small spark in the light bulb you switched on just now.

Fire needs no introduction.

And even then from a scientific and general point of view you still might not know much about it.

We all have used fire to warm our hands... but have you ever thought what exactly is fire?

Let’s ask ourselves that question again but make it more deep this time.

What is the fire actually made up of? Or, what exactly is the composition of fire that makes us feel warm or hot in the first place.

Is fire a state of matter?

Solid – no chance

Liquid – I am sure I can use it to dry my clothes

Gas – on a guess maybe

But some of our voracious learners might even think of plasma. But I still have my doubts.

Plasma is in fact a gas which is heated till all the electrons gets ionized and now it can conduct electricity due to these free electrons. Pretty much not the exact fire we know, so think again....

This time we make a contradiction and ask our self : - is fire really a matter?

Because matter is formed by atoms. Can atoms really be in a fire? If yes, means fire has mass! And if it has mass, why can’t I just hold it in my hands.

The question still remains. What is fire....?

Everything seems a bit strange when we are talking about such a thing which does not have any physical structure or we just haven’t put much thought upon because they are just that generalised.

But don’t stop those ideas coming, because here’s another thought-provoking question ⸺

Why Fire is hot ???

In fact, we use fire in everyday life and its heat giving off property while our mother’s cook foods, hanging clothes under sun, during fire-crackers bursts and tonnes of other uses.

I would be defining fire as the visible effect of the process of combustion – a special type of chemical reaction occurring between oxygen in the air and a fuel.

The fuel gets heated above the point called ignition temperature and the thing gives light and heat or maybe even some sound burning until the whole fuel is consumed.

In fact, we represent it with a very basic chemical formula :-

Fuel + oxygen (from the air) = combustion products (mainly CO2 + H2O) + heat energy

But at the end even this chemical equation explains nothing about its mechanism just like a recipe book cannot shows us how the cake would taste like.

Then again if we are able visualize how things actually ignite on molecular level using the above chemical equation ⸺ then just maybe we can get all our answers....

Let’s take a candle for example, and imagine it burning. Don’t go on its size because even this little guy can teach you a lot about fire.

We already know that fire gives us light because the atoms of the gases on the inside releases energy in form of heat and light on combustion.

But how is it actually happening let’s find out :-

When temperature almost hits the optimal combustion point, the molecules of the fuel start loosening up because of all of the heat, moving apart to form gases. The gas molecules combine with oxygen in the air resulting in burning.

The flame ignites gases being emitted, and the fire spreads. As long as there is enough fuel and oxygen, the fire keeps burning.

At the same time the electrons undergo a change in transition state as the electrons jump down the orbits, leading to release of energy in form of light and the heat along with it.

The heat receptors on our hands eventually feel the burning sensation and the rising temperature of our surrounding, informs us that the fire is hot.

So, you see fire is really an amazing thing and our ancestors really wouldn’t have made it through the ice age if they didn’t know that it is flaming hot.

But always remember your parent’s advice never play with fire and stay safe.