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
Fire is a chemical reaction between some flammable material and oxygen. A lot of our fuels (gasoline, natural gas etc) are hydrocarbons, consisting simply of carbon and hydrogen. In an idealized situation called complete combustion, these would react with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water vapor.
For instance the complete combustion of methane, the main component of natural gas is:
CH₄ + 2O₂ —> CO₂ + 2H₂O
Realistically, you usually get some products of incomplete combustion such as carbon monoxide and soot.
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