So when a fuel ignites or combusts, does that fuel itself transform into fire or is fire just created around it?

Question

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

Answer 1

Chemical bonds break with enough heat and oxygen. The fuel breaks into other things, and the fire is the energy released in the breakage. That energy pushes nearby fuel to its breaking point, and the cycle continues as long as there is fuel, oxygen, and heat remaining. The temperature when the fuel ignites depends on the material.