Fire fighters have oxygen on their backs right? How does it not explode when they go into a burning building?
In: Chemistry
It’s not an oxygen tank, it’s compressed air. This obviously contains oxygen, but as much as any old air has. Air doesn’t burn on its own, it needs fuel. And fuel doesn’t burn on it’s own, it needs air, or specifically oxygen. Inside the tank isn’t going to ignite as there is no fuel, and if the air escaped it’s no different than air in the first place.
Now, any compressed gas tank can explode. Even helium which is completely inert, ie won’t burn. However, that requires heating it a lot. If the tank was exposed to enough heat to explode, the firefighter would long be dead.
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