The temperature of the fire makes you see familiar things in a new light - a white match, a blue glow of a gas stove burner in the kitchen, orange-red tongues above a flaming tree. A person does not pay attention to the fire until he burns his fingertips. Or not burn the potatoes in the pan. Or burn through the soles of sneakers drying over a campfire.
When the first pain, fear and disappointment pass, it is time for philosophical reflection. About nature, colors, temperature of fire.
It burns like a match
Briefly about the structure of a match. It consists of a stick and a head. Sticks are made of wood, cardboard and cotton cord impregnated with paraffin. The tree is chosen soft species - poplar, pine, aspen. Raw materials for sticks are called matchsticks. To avoid smoldering straws, the sticks are impregnated with phosphoric acid. Russian factories make straws from aspen.
The head of a match is simple in shape, but complex in chemical composition. The dark brown head of a match contains seven components: oxidizers - Berthollet s alt andpotassium dichromate; glass dust, red lead, sulfur, bone glue, zinc white.
The head of a match ignites when rubbed, heating up to one and a half thousand degrees. Ignition threshold, in degrees Celsius:
- poplar – 468;
- aspen – 612;
- pine – 624.
The fire temperature of a match is equal to the ignition temperature of wood. Therefore, the white flash of the sulfur head is replaced by the yellow-orange tongue of the match.
If you look closely at a burning match, you will see three zones of flame. The bottom one is cold blue. The average is one and a half times warmer. The top is the hot zone.
Fire Artist
Nostalgic memories flare up at the word "fire" no less vividly: the smoke of a fire, creating a trusting atmosphere; red and yellow lights flying towards an ultramarine sky; overflows of reeds from blue to ruby-red; crimson cooling coals in which "pioneer" potatoes are baked.
The changing color of the flaming wood indicates fluctuations in the temperature of the fire in the fire. Wood smoldering (darkening) starts at 150°. Ignition (smoke) occurs in the range of 250-300°. With the same supply of oxygen, tree species burn at different temperatures. Accordingly, the degree of the fire will also be different. Birch burns at 800 degrees, alder at 522 degrees, and ash and beech at 1040 degrees.
But the color of the fire is also determined by the chemical composition of the burning substance. yellow and orange colorsodium s alts are added to the fire. The chemical composition of cellulose contains both sodium and potassium s alts, which give the burning coals of wood a red tint. The romantic blue lights in a wood fire are due to a lack of oxygen, when instead of CO2 CO is formed - carbon monoxide.
Science enthusiasts measure the temperature of a fire in a campfire with a device called a pyrometer. Three types of pyrometers are produced: optical, radiation, spectral. These are non-contact devices that allow you to evaluate the power of thermal radiation.
Exploring fire in our own kitchen
Kitchen gas stoves run on two types of fuel:
- Main natural gas methane.
- Propane-butane liquefied mixture from cylinders and gas tanks.
The chemical composition of the fuel determines the temperature of the gas stove fire. Methane, burning, forms a fire with a power of 900 degrees at the top.
Combustion of liquefied mixture gives heat up to 1950°.
A careful observer will note the uneven coloring of the tongues of the gas stove burner. Inside the fiery torch, there is a division into three zones:
- Dark area located near the burner: there is no combustion due to lack of oxygen, and the temperature of the zone is 350°.
- Bright area in the center of the torch: the burning gas is heated to 700°, but the fuel does not burn completely due to lack of oxidizer.
- Semi-transparent upper area: reaches 900°C temperature, and gas combustion is complete.
The figures for the temperature zones of the fire torch are given formethane.
Safety rules for fire events
When lighting matches, a fireplace, a gas stove, take care of the ventilation of the room. Provide oxygen to the fuel.
Do not attempt to repair gas appliances yourself. Gas does not tolerate amateurs.
Mistresses note that the burners glow blue, but sometimes the fire turns orange. This is not a global temperature change. The change in color is associated with a change in the composition of the fuel. Pure methane burns colorless and odorless. For safety reasons, sulfur is added to household gas, which, when burned, turns the gas blue and gives the combustion products a characteristic smell.
The appearance of orange and yellow hues in the fire of the burner indicates the need for preventive manipulations with the stove. Masters will clean the equipment, remove dust and soot, the burning of which changes the usual color of the fire.
Sometimes the fire in the burner turns red. This is a signal of the dangerous content of carbon monoxide in the combustion products. The supply of oxygen to the fuel is so small that the stove even goes out. Carbon monoxide is tasteless and odorless, and a person near the source of the release of a harmful substance will notice too late that he has been poisoned. Therefore, the red color of the gas requires the immediate call of the masters for the prevention and adjustment of equipment.
