• Question: Why is fire hot

    Asked by jessiemooney to Angela, Gabriele, Karen, Maria, Shane on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Shane Mc Guinness

      Shane Mc Guinness answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Great question!
      Fire is a chemical chain reaction (like a line of dominos falling down) between the oxygen in the air, fuel like wood or coal, and a little bit of heat. The reason this reaction is hot is because it is “exothermic”. That is, when it happens it gives off heat. When things become less organised they give off energy either by moving or by giving off light or heating things nearby. Fire is exactly this. When the very organised structure of wood (lots of atoms all organised into something that used to be a really complicated plant!) get all unorganised by reacting with oxygen, it gives off a lot of heat. And this heat at the start causes other reactions to start all on their own!
      There you have it. FIRE!

    • Photo: Angela Stevenson

      Angela Stevenson answered on 13 Nov 2013:

      Hi Jessie! Great question! Fire is hot because it’s a fast release of energy that was stored over years. Anything that burns has energy stored in it. When it burns, the energy is quickly released as heat and light, which we see as fire. A candle flame typically burns at around 1000 Celsius… that’s really hot hey. Hope that answers your question 🙂

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