I know something similar has been asked before but it was different as in just wanting to know what happens to the fuel of a fire and I didn’t exactly find the information I’m looking for.
My question is, I guess, more so asking for specific details about combustion.
Google’s online dictionary basically explained combustion as the process of fire “consuming” it’s fuel.
I was then wondering if this was comparable, even if only in analogy, to fire actually eating the fuel like maybe the matter which said fuel is composed of actually transforms Into fire as it burns rather than only producing fire as it breaks down from burning.
In: Chemistry
Combustion proceeds by breaking apart the fuel molecules and reacting them with oxygen molecules, producing water and carbon dioxide (unless there’s no carbon in the fuel), in addition to other products depending on what the fuel actually is. As each fuel molecule breaks apart, the chemical bonds release their stored energy as heat, which helps overcome the ignition energy of neighboring fuel molecules, and continues the reaction.
Everything continues until you run out of oxygen, fuel, or energy to sustain the reaction.
The actual flame is composed of larger fuel molecules that don’t end up fully reacting with oxygen, and are just superheated to the point that they glow in the (typically) visible spectrum. Other parts of the flame are particles within the fuel (e.g. soil) that can’t burn, but which can still decompose under high heat and be converted into gas, which *also* tend to glow. The flame is a consequence of combustion, although the flame does represent areas of relatively high heat, meaning areas where combustion can spread easily if there is available fuel and oxygen.
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