Not sure if this is actually a chemistry question so excuse the flair if it’s wrong. I’ve heard that blowing slowly on a fire introduces more oxygen into it, which is needed to grow the fire. But don’t we breathe out carbon dioxide???
And when you blow quickly, I suppose you’re separating/distributing the embers but I need someone to confirm this and elaborate further.
In: Chemistry
The air you breathe out still contains oxygen, your lungs dont use all oxygen you breathed it. Just a part of it gets replaced by carbon dioxide.
If you blow quickly, you seperate the flame from its fuel, causing the fuel to cool down, so that it does not burn anymore (and the existing flame vanishes, as it has nomore fuel).
A fire needs 3 ingredients to burn.
Heat, fuel and oxygen.
When you blow slow, more oxygen reaches it.
When you blow fast, you blow away the fuel or heat.
It is similar to breathing, when we breathe normally we live.
But if someone pushes a pressure pump, the whole thing busts…
Common misunderstanding.
Air we breathe in: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon.
Air we breathe out: 78% nitrogen, 17% oxygen, 4% carbon dioxide, 1% argon. [Source](https://byjus.com/biology/composition-gases-breathe/)
Still lots of oxygen in an exhale, more than 4x more oxygen than carbon dioxide. When you hear “humans breathe out CO2” it means “humans breathe out all the CO2 that their bodies make” not “everything they breathe out is CO2”.
Back to your question: Fire needs heat, fuel, and oxygen. Blowing slow = adding more oxygen (exhale is still 17% oxygen and only 4% CO2!) Blowing fast = removing too much heat or fuel.
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