Why do some things burn and other things melt?

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Why do some things burn and other things melt?

In: Chemistry

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Not a chemist by any means, so if I’m using slightly incorrect vocabulary, I’m sorry.

Combustion is a chemical reaction, while melting is just the matter changing state from solid to liquid. For instance, in a combustion, the matter reacts with oxygen and creates a different molecule (e.g. carbon + oxygen -> carbon dioxide), while some ice that melts into water is still the same H2O before and after. The only thing they have in common is that they need a certain temperature to trigger the reaction.

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