can someone explain the science behind why getting fire wet puts it out?
In: Chemistry
First we need to understand fire.
Fire is the result of a chemical reaction that releases a large amount of heat. Typically this is a reaction with oxygen, called combustion and some sort of fuel, usually when you see something burning, it’s an organic compoud (think wood, gasoline, etc) that has a lot of hydrogen and carbon in it.
To start a chemical reaction you need a little bit of energy to get things started. Think about trying to tip something over, like a refrigerator. Takes some energy to get it to the tipping point, but you get a LOT of energy out once it does fall.
So oxygen next to the the wood, and it has enough energy to go fast enough to hit the molecule and rattle it. The oxygen then rips the molecule apart, snapping together and re-arranging the atoms. This is sort of how a two magnets will zip together and slam together.
The re-arranged atoms fly off at high speeds, and can rattle nearby molecules, allowing oxygen a chance to rip the next one to parts, causing a chain reaction.
—
Ok, so why does water stop fire?
First, water is *created* by these combustion reactions. The oxygen combines with the hydrogen in the molecule, and well, that’s water (two hydrogens, 1 oxygen make water, h20) So the water *can’t burn* again. This means it physically blocks the oxygen from reaching the fuel molecules that it can burn. This slows things down.
Second, water does a great job at absorbing heat, which is the collisions between these molecules. Basically it’s a soft cushion on the atomic scale. So that also slows things down too.
Latest Answers