The Chemistry of Fire

What is fire? What is fire made of and how does it work? Here, we look at the chemistry and science of fire, blue flames, yellow flames and wood fires. If you have something to say about fire, chemistry, or science in general, post it in the comments.

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Three Twentysix Project Leader: Dr Andrew Robertson
Editor: Purple Saptari
3D Animations: Es Hiranpakorn
Graphic Design: Maria Sucianto
Media: Diyon Weeratunga

Chapters:
0:00 What is Fire?
0:25 Combustion Reaction
1:11 Bunsen Burner
2:22 Activation Energy
4:05 Products
5:04 Sequences of Reactions
6:20 Blue Flame
7:30 Yellow Flame
12:20 Liquid Flame
13:38 Candle Flame
14:45 Wood Fire
20:05 Are We Fire?

This video was produced at Kyushu University and supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP21K02904. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kyushu University, JSPS or MEXT.

[JoshSci]

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.

[waelfadlallah]

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

[deeyndr]

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

[jacobcowan]

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.

[edgeeffect]

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.

[YesiPleb]

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.

[markotrieste]

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.

[actualBIAS]

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!

[FrankHoffmann]

Best explanation of fire in the entire YouTube universe, I guess! Great video!

[piedpiper]

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 YouTube 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.

[rbarghouti]

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

[SodiumInteresting]

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

[NischalKhanal-hvbt]

Didn't expect the spiritual ending. Amazing teacher. Love the way he explains.

[andrewkemp]

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.

[TheGayestPersononYouTube]

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

[aleonyohan]

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

[dominictarrsailing]

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

[arlenestanton]

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!

[blueridgepics]

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

[lowkey]

At 1.25X playback speed, you sound normal