Fire: Difference between revisions

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imported>Robert W King
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imported>Robert W King
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|date=2004-04-30|author=Barach, Jerry|accessdate=08-09-2007}}</ref> that date from the Acheulian culture(1.8 to 250,000 years ago).
|date=2004-04-30|author=Barach, Jerry|accessdate=08-09-2007}}</ref> that date from the Acheulian culture(1.8 to 250,000 years ago).


==References==
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<references/>

Revision as of 14:55, 9 August 2007

Fire is an observable side effect produced by an exothermal chemical reaction. Fire is usually produced as a result of a thermal interaction between oxygen and a fuel source(wood, or gasoline, for example).

The typical steps to create fire are as follows:

  • a fuel source is affected by heat until it reaches its ignition temperature
  • oxidation occurs; oxygen molecules break down larger molecules into carbon dioxide and water vapour
  • this reaction produces a visible, incandescent body of heated gas which sustains the reaction until either the fuel is expended or there is no more oxygen available to the reaction

As long as all three properties of heat, oxygen, and fuel are present a fire will continue to burn. Removing one of these elements will either remove the ability for a fire to start or will extinguish it.

History

It's hard to say when or where fire was first observed or discovered. Evidence from an excavation in the Benot Ya'aqov region of Israel have turned up burned fragments of flint and wood[1] that date from the Acheulian culture(1.8 to 250,000 years ago).


References