can someone explain the science behind why getting fire wet puts it out?
In: Chemistry
Fire requires things to be a certain temperature before they will burn. The desk I am sitting at right now is made of wood. It is not burning, because it is at room temperature. Wood will only burn if it is hot enough, generally a few hundred degrees. Water turns to steam at a lower temperature. I can wrap a wooden spoon in foil, so the water can’t get in, and put it in a pot of boiling water until it reaches the temperature of the boiling water. I can then take it out and remove the foil. The wooden spoon will be hot, as hot as boiling water, but will not be on fire because although it is hot, it is not hot enough.
When water turns to steam, that process takes a lot of energy. That energy comes from the things around it, and makes them get colder. Fire releases energy, but if I put enough water into the fire, the energy used to turn the water to steam will be more than the energy being released by the fire, so the burning stuff will get colder. If I can get the fuel cold enough, by putting enough water on it, its temperature will drop below the temperature that it burns at, so the fire will stop.
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