Considered in antiquity one of the fundamental elements that formed the world, fire is certainly one of the greatest and most important discoveries in the history of mankind. But, after all, what is it? What is your physical state? Let us understand it better.

What is fire?

It was formerly believed that fire was the result of the release of a substance called phlogiston. However, in the 18th century it was discovered that, in fact, the main element for fire is oxygen.

That is, fire is the result of a chemical reaction of combustion, which releases light and heat. It is basically just energy. What happens is that when the particles of the heated material break, they attach to the oxygen in the air and form water molecules. In this process, the water molecules appear as a flame because their energy is less than that released by the wood. Then what is left of the reaction becomes light and heat.

Why does fire have different colors?

The color of the fire is the result of the color of the light it emits. In fact, this light is formed by photons, very small particles that behave like an electromagnetic wave. The length of this wave is what defines the color of the fire.

At the same time, the size of the wave depends on the amount of energy it carries. Waves with more energy are shorter and result in blue flames, while larger ones are red. The other colors of flames depend on specific fuels that release substances as they combust.

Why does fire have that characteristic shape?

Even the shape of the flames depends on a physical phenomenon. In fact it is the gravity of the Earth that attracts the particles and causes the base of the flame to be larger than the tip..

What did you think to find out about the fire? Keep following our blog to find out more.