why is there more smoke after the fire goes out than while it’s burning?
In: Chemistry
I don’t know is this is indeed a cold hard fact, but there is a good explanation for it if it is. When an object burns, it releases a certain volume of smoke. Let’s say that if an entire bedroom burned, it would create 100 cubic metres of smoke. That smoke has to go somewhere, it does not vanish. Smoke will rise and if there is an opening in the house, it will go through there. However, such an opening can only allow a certain amount volume per minute. Let’s say that a cracked window allows one cubic metre of smoke to pass through a minute, that means it would take 100 minutes for all the smoke to evacuate. If the fire burned the room in 10 minutes, it would take another 90 minutes for the smoke to clear.
In addition to smoke, fighting fire with water creates steam. Shooting water on the fire will boil the water and make steam. One litre of water creates 1700 litres of steam. Same like the smoke, that steam has to go somewhere, so it can take a while for the steam to clear. Than being said, a lot of the steam would eventually condense back into water.
Another thing to consider is ventilation. Smoke is unburnt fuel. If a room is full of smoke, it could re-ignite and cause a massive fire. A part of fire fighting is ventilating all the smoke out once the flames are gone. This includes opening many windows, and possibly creating holes in the wall and roof. Instead of a single window cracked during the fire, there are now many opening with smoke coming out of all of them. This makes it appear like there is more smoke, where it actually is only more smoke moving out instead of staying inside.
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