The Chemistry of Fire 

"You are, in a very real sense, a reaction zone." may just be my new favorite quote!

Even with a PhD in chemistry videos like this are still so much fun to watch. You do an amazing job of articulating answers to fundamental questions.

You're the only one that satisfied my curiosity about fire with clear details about this process from start to finish. I was always curious when i strat any fire how it react the way it does especially when there are 2 flames coexisting at the same time it was mind blowing to me. Thank you sir

When i was a kiddie, i had an old Biology text book. And chapter 1 was "fire"... it took me a long time to grasp why it was there.

Fun fact: the blobs of flames appear so viscous because they are actually very viscous. For gasses, as opposed to liquids, viscosity increases with temperature. In the old days, when there was no digital simulation available, modeling of combustion chambers was done using honey in water.

Only 126 subscribers???? That simply will not do! Excellent explanation and demonstrations. I love that you examined various types of fires rather than just selecting one general case.

Best explanation of fire in the entire RU-vid universe, I guess! Great video!

10:30 I find it so charming and on brand that you credited another presenter with where you learned a presentation trick. No one would ever accuse you of RU-vid plagiarism for copying a trick like this, but it’s still just the nice thing to do, and you did it. Ya love to see it.

You're an amazing explainer. I found your channel a few days ago. I have a good tip for self learners. You're never to old to learn something. I am a computer scientist and I didn't really had the opportunity to dive deep into the field of chemistry. Channels like these will teach you a lot. The amazing thing is that you are able to learn practically everything if you devide the task into many smaller easy to handle tasks. This is the essence of what I call the algorithmic thinking of a computer scientist. If you make small enough planned steps, you will be able to climb the hill without exhaustion. Back in my younger days I had issues learning stuff because I wanted to have the whole cake. The hard truth I didn't want to be true was that in order to learn something you have to start with the basics. That means also that you sometimes have to go back to stuff like math or physics or basically any field that is relevant for your goal. This is the hard part, because it takes a lot of will to overcome this phase. But ONCE you crossed that line you will find yourself equipped with a beatiful and often powerful perspective of this world. You will have new skills you've never dreamed of and understand things more clear. I wish you good luck on your journey. You have it in you!

Incredible. When I was at senior/secondary school I was into my first year and we started to learn the basics of chemistry. I remember the teacher saying matter is in one of three states; gas, solid or liquid. I remember thinking about what he said and it got me wondering what fire was. This was around 1984. I remember stopping my chemistry teacher in the hallways and asking him, what is fire if matter can be in one of three states. I was met with a very puzzled face and was told that he'd never been asked that in all his years of teaching and would have to get back to me. He did with one very simple answer which I'll never forget... It's a visual release of energy. Loved your video, for some reason this ended up in my feed and if I was still into chemistry I would have subscribed instantly as you've explained everything so well so thank-you for that.

Excellent! Beautiful explanation. And your signoff was one of the best lines I've ever heard to connect the metaphysical with the physical.

This showed up in my recommended videos and I’m glad I watched it! Very detailed :D

This is a brilliant video, possibly your best so far and the one that was recommended to me when I first discovered the channel. I fully expect this channel to gain the popularity it deserves

I was looking to learn about chemistry but I wasn't expecting to find a channel this good!!!

I stumbled into Chemistry and loved it, ending up as an Organic major. I have always wanted to know what fire is, yet here you are answering in a deliciously chemistry way that was so fascinating. Thank you for that little journey into chemistry and it’s intriguing beauty.

My grandson and I work in the HVAC industry so we do a lot of braising. I'm going to show him this video. It's really cool to know exactly what the flame is that we are using with our torches. Thank you

This is absolutely fascinating. Thanks for literally shedding light on topic I wondered about since I was a kid such as why the campfire is yellow while the gas stove flame is blue. I later learned about incandescence and now the puzzle pieces fit together. Thanks!

I don't often comment on videos, but found this to be amazingly well done and educational. Thanks also for the very thought-provoking ending.

Incredibly clear explanation! And all the parts follow each other very smoothly; very good indeed.

This channel is a true gem, awesome content

Well done, amazing clarity and simple explanation.... you answered my query of 20 years about what fire is .

Very good explanation' lined and subbed. Thank you

Excellent video Sir. Thank you

this is the best explanation I have heard. thank you

Absolutely brilliant video!

I alway knew that the wood itself was not burning in a campfire because you could see the flame just above the wood. Now I understand the chemistry, thank you very much for explaining this. I also love your philosophical explanation of life, good job!

Thanks for teaching

It seems that a core concept you kind of brushed across was that no matter the material that is burning, it's a combination of *gasses* that are burning. It's kind of counter-intuitive for wood, etc, but a very illuminating (yuk, yuk) concept!

I was so interested I actually forgot to press the LIKE button so thank you for the reminder. Don’t think I’ve ever appreciated the reminder

I actually wondered about what is fire a few weeks ago but never imagined the amazing details that you reveal here. Thank you!!!

Excellent video

This video is incredibly informative

Thanks for this video

Thank you for the soot explanation.

Well done..thanks

This video was so incredible all the way through, I truly really liked it. And at the end, a random Dark Souls existential crisis.

love the ending

Great study thanks

Lvl 1 on expert mode 🔥

Excellent. Thank you.

That last sentence was everything, loved it. Thank you for sharing #subscribed

Very good explanation 👏

BRO!! Legit, I asked this question to my chemistry teacher in High School, her and my entire class looked at me like i asked what 1 + 1 is. Thank you for making me feel like it was a legitimate question and not me being stupid.

I know you get lots of compliments about this video. But you have a very wonderful way of explaining things, and you made this video very interesting and very educational. Thank you.

I am very impressed with this video. You did a wonderful job of explaining the subject matter and the ending was amazing. Thanks for sharing.

Love that closer.

Fascinating

just awesome 💯 especially the END (ourselves as a fire)

Now it makes sense.... thank you

Stumped my science teacher with this one in high school. He eventually regained his composure and mumbled ‘a reaction’ so fair play KP 👏

Before watching my answer is simple…the flames we see when a log burns are just the flames from the sun that changed form, came to earth, got trapped inside the seed of the tree from which the log came, then finally got released again.

The ending is just mind-blowing. Thank you sir for such a great explanation, also the animation conveyed the sense just brilliantly.

Thank you love your show very good.

Thanks a lot

Wow, what an ending!!!

That is just beautiful descriptive science,

Köszönöm!

Fanning the fire of knowledge...😊

master class ! thanks a lot !

You're explanation of the chemical nature of fire was very informative and interesting. Thank you. But the last bit about the human body, and in relation, existence itself, blew my effing mind.

This video was fire! 🔥 straight gas! ⛽😮‍💨🔌

That last part was pure romantic.

Wow, I was not prepared for that amazing ending

厉害，终于在比较底层的原理上理解了火焰的燃烧，包括气体（液体）、固体的燃烧。

Ur the only sir that understand ur English like my mother tongue......great sir...

Lovely video... Really well explained, I already knew the core of it, but you explained it so detailed and well, I learned alot. thank you :) I always love to watch contained fires, the flames are calming and hypnotising. It was always almost annoying to me, that I couln't hold a flame in my hands. Which led me to investigate what fire actually is. I understood that it is basicly chemical reactions, now I underdtand it very detailed. Thank you again.

Ear bones probably never get replaced, but hey, what an interesting talk. Thanks. Answered many questions but also raised quite a few too.

Thanks

great explanation thank u! right up there with Feynman-

Mors Kochanski, a Titan of the bushcraft and wilderness living skills instructor lead me here. He was the only instructor I ever heard describe simply and in quite detail the gasification of wood at high temperatures to give off its heating properties. He explained the process and chemistry of combustion. This video is very interesting

Nice.

Great video, very well explained. Also liked the ending. You could have added that for those reasons a flame can be considered alive also it can replicate itself.

Excellent 👌👌👌

You're a gem on RU-vid.

I liked the philosophical bit at the end of the video. It truly is marvelous, how long this bio-chemical reaction we call "ourselves" run on for, how many molecules we break and create, just by eating, drinking, and breathing. Life is the engine of change, and one hell of a way for entropy to bring about equilibrium. also, I couldn't get a straight answer from Google, but is it the blackbody radiation that makes the yellow glow of the flame?

great content !!

great channel!

At 1.25X playback speed, you sound normal

I love you sir....your all explanation is amazing 💕 from india

Thank you so much for this education! I've wondered about that for decades. I still am curious about the quantum physics that goes into the creation of these photons from fire flames though.

Great channel - found it, searching about what is fire. I plan to make it through your other videos on chemistry. I'm a EE who enjoys chemisty, and your explanations are very clear. Subscribed. Cheers

Good explanations. Water does not burn but also cools other compounds down due to its high heat of vaporization. This is one way firefighters use water to prevent fires from spreading. Before many solids can combust the molecules as you said must reach the temperature needed to decompose and vaporize.

I accidently in middle school and high school discovered chemistry - physics, and theatre 101 so to speak have all the information in three simple courses needed to understand everything on this planetary spacecraft - including a great understanding of socializxation...Adding ac/dc/communication electronics gave me wave examples I could see that translate to all other interactions of molecules and atoms... I get goosebumps remembering my see the connections almost overnight one day... at about 20 years old... I had a full blown mental orgasmitron, telling my wife and four year old - and the wife is like...ok cool...are you alright,? did you have a drink? maybe you should have a drink...hahahah.

I dutifully explained this to my 4 year old as I lit her birthday cake candles. She wasn’t very impressed. Maybe next year.

This was a great video. You explained everything in a simple manner so that anyone could understand what is happening. The one thing you did not talk about with liquids is flash point. At the very end I liked the way you explained how we are really a very slow burning flame, we even exhale Carbon Dioxide and Water vapor. Dried up Christmas Trees are great fire starters. LOL

Cool video. It's another day, can I learn how the air can burn if it's hot enough?

That’s a good question 😅

got really deep at the end

I like Your self centering fire pit arrangement : ) fire is also one of those things We daren't let any other species control We wont be around long if that were to happen it is that powerfull, like wheat it got Us were We are today! it is good and bad! Cheers!!!

Are the forces of attraction between the radicals that contribute to the formation of new bonds electrical or electromagnetic forces?

A connection I would like to see is particle size and black body radiation. It is my understanding that a normal wood fire is brighter in the visible then you would expect by just having knowledge of its temperature because the particle sizes are too small to radiate in the longer wavelengths. Do you know if this is the case?

I’m completely surprised how many people watched this video and number of likes. I have a degree in field of combustion and explosives and I spent 9 years of my career to develop new products for explosions and combustion, make measurements in zone of chemical reactions, develop SW to simulate physical processes powered by chemical reactions. I didn’t see much interest from people to this field of technologies to switch to EE/SW business. Subscribed to see people interest to area inspired me early.

🔥

fire is what happens when a fuel source and a heat source love each other very much..

You sir are a natural born educator - I was looking for a discussion of the role of pyrolysis in the combustion reaction, which you touched on when you discussed charcoal, but didn't mention explicitly. I would like to hear more about both pyrolysis and the incandescence that takes place in the flame and the origin of that incandescence.

This is the best, most comprehensive explanation of combustion I have found. Thankyou. I do find it hard to believe though that we do not possess any atoms from birth. Surely some the Ca2+ in our bones is locked away for this long?

Host of molecules creating heat, that creates, more radicals, who will then get together and create low energy creating more heat. 5 minutes in. As a pyromaniac, I love Pyramids, am all ears for the pyro. Will now employ BCF.

Question. Would flame be considered a plasma? Seeing as it's just a mess of random pieces? In pretty high heat energy state?

Seems to me that it's basically a fast form of oxidation rust basically

Fire is an activity. To clarify: Any activity requires a participant(s) which enables it and that activity exists only as long as the participants required remain. I lawyered it instead of scienceing it.