How and why things burn
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Fire: | the next three components form the fire triangle and are all necessary to sustain a fire | |
Heat: | an energy source is necessary to ignite the sample (initiate burning) and sufficient energy must be produced by the flame to continue burning | |
Fuel: | sample must produce fuel vapors (this may involve simple vaporization or thermal decomposition of the sample) | |
Oxygen: | oxygen must mix with the fuel vapors and reaction will occur with sufficient energy (the chemical reaction is a complex mechanism that involves radicals) | |
Products: | the combustion products are a mixture of hot gases and particulate matter that rise from the fire |
Now let's go look at the stages of burning.