Creating fire was possibly the most important human discovery, but it's easy to take for granted. But. Josh and Chuck get to the bottom of the chemistry of fire in their quest to explain everything in the universe.
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Welcome to stop. You should know from house to house works
play. Welcome to the podcast I'm Josh Clark with me is always is Charles, W Chuck Bryant, and this is stuff you should know.
We ll understand next year by Sir come over here through legislation warmer. We here, isn't it a feverish within smoking. If you like, there's chemical reactions taking place before my very eyes there.
That's why there's fire fire is nothing if not a chemical reactions,
Have you heard of the wine cough Hotel, yeah?
but don't worry Isabel born and raised here, yeah, the our hotel was at the hotel fire yeah. You know that it's now the Ellis Hotel, the corner peach tree. Now, it's nice refurbished hotel back in eighteen, forty six, it was called the wine cough hotel. It knows the site of the most disastrous casualty wise hotel fire in. U S history near enough December. Nineteen, forty six hundred nineteen people died. Why right here in Britain, forty four just under forty four years
in LAS Vegas Nevada. The indian Green had a hotel fire. Eighty five people died. Do you remember the engine fire now GM grandfather, our big deal, not off you, you, I'm surprised
as I can remember like seeing footage of that. When was this nineteen eighty now I remember so both of these
as in all the loss of life associated with them, were the direct result of hubris towards fire the. Why cough their fire exit, one stairwell for the whole building. I think it's like nineteen stories or something like that for the energy and grand they they didn't put up like sixty thousand dollars for a fire detection system in this one part of the hotel that would have saved everyone's life support, hubris, part, financial tenacity and right, but isn't that kind of based on hubris negative? My point is that if there is one thing that we shouldn't have he restored it fire agreed. We think we might control fire thanks to Prometheus being given it by the gods. Yet but fire controls us when it really comes down to it that you gotta face off a tete, a tete with fire, you're gonna lose buddy because you you're combustible there. So also we should say here too
fire, as it should be a prerequisite to the how wildfires work here and how spontaneous human combustion were here does too episodes of great agreed. This will seal up our triumvirate now we're gonna explained how fire works. Yeah. Do you have a couple? A quick stats retirement the deadly nature of fire? Yes, does kill more people than any other force of nature. I couldn't find that any source near that
but I saw a searching for a broad up like a handful of plagiarized versions of this article on the internet. I really was ratified, especially when it your own way. Swansdown minuses feel hurt. Tom here come here
but I do have some stats in the: U S at least two thousand ten for residential building fires over twenty five hundred people died
that year and that sort of in the warehouse it fluctuates between twenty two hundred in about thirty two hundred a year from building fire.
Cooking is far and away the leading cause of building fire and arsonist number, to which our two thought, like falling asleep with a cigarette, will win the event arson,
and then total in two thousand and nine, and I guess his council any kind of fire in the. U S, they were close to thirty four hundred deaths that year, so that no that's a lot yeah I mean that's more than numb Lamb sure killed by volcanoes in the U S every year I think you're right in a yes, this is one or two people, following the kill away from getting too close, have you set foot into that scientists going on his collecting some sort of, I guess magma from an active volcanoes Hawaii, and it was really nerve racking because he goes up. Take samples climbing up the rim of the cars back down and right when he steps away from it. The Maghreb comes up over the rim, exactly where you just pay
timing, while like five minutes before, and so it would have like just completely disintegrated, am I imagine what did he say? I don't see how we can see that, while the guy who is filming it was like narrating like hurry up, get out so stupid, Dennis, yes, very cool, I dont know what you'd search, but it's up there on the internet, somewhere search were pony will and that should do it so check. The Greeks thought the fire was one of the four elements: Earth wire water when in fire when fire water
ash young, silly, Greeks. The reason why that doesn't really hold up is because Earth fire air- these are elements near their matter. Yet there may of atoms. Fire is the physical manifestation of matter changing form new sprinkle like when you think of it. That way, we're going to describe how this happened. I can tackle some of this
chemistry. Is that my four day? But it is a chemical reaction at its core between oxygen and on fuel, which look I mean, will probably or stock about like a campfire else. Growth would would fired by the easiest way
scribe yeah. The word is the fuel the. What is the fuel oxygen is found in the air that right, but for these things to make fire have something called combustion and which means we have to have some sort of sport,
why do we not always because, as we find out, something can combust without his work? Yet if they get hot enough, like the heat is so in ten year that it doesn't need
Spock right yeah, but for what you have to get it up to arm its ignition temperature, which is about three hundred degrees, Fahrenheit hundred fifty degrees celsius
which is where unified scenes from smoke, because
so you away and it just occurred,
Meaning is today like whether smugglers fire, not true, because things can smoke without there being a fire yeah actually a by product of fire. You know
doesn't smoke. So I guess in order to, if you want,
people that now says bottom of it
import, or instead of top of the total yeah, then we can further reinforce this of noxious quality by encouraging you d say where their smoke. There is ignition temperature of a combustible fuel. There's volatile gas. It's nice got shot right thanks. So yet he is, he decomposes fuel were was a wood and in the case of woods, specifically at decomposes, the volatile gases contained in the solid matter right since volatile gases start to heat up themselves and while they're doing that cellulose solid stuff is decomposing in turning into what's hold char.
Yeah I got loathing incites sailor shook with it, and then you can take a moment to that's right. Get confused, I'm confused to cellulose about forty four fifty percent of what a cellulose and that's what like its remit paper. What you make paper from, so you may sell yours the gap in offering to end its. What
Cellophane out of another, no cellophane is regional
it cellulose. So it's it's like it looks like plastic, but it's not
I had no idea it is man made as untried to natural polymer task. Is man made obviously right so Sullivan
is nothing more than
generating paper away. Why, like they add some other stuff to it? But that's why it's about a grateful and always wondered why, like supposedly site cellophane biodegradable, like that's impossible, if plastic, but it's not placed this- is all telephone from like the fifties, maybe in ITALY, good things come in Toulouse, and it's like this, this pair of twins,
wrapped in cellophane canna looking around for a while, you can imagine how miserable it's, not the pitcher philosophy.
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That can never go to the post office again. Ok, so you ve got a cellulose. The solid matter of
yeah separating now from the volatile gases. Yes said: if, during the lift up that smoke great, yes, ok, the the wood
the solid matter, starting to turn into char, and that is basically, if you, if you burn wood, if you heat it up and you separate the gases which of the smoke, what remains
carbon, yes, and what what charcoal is is charge? Would that had the volatile gases burned out of it, which is why, when you have a charcoal fire, you don't have smoke yeah, not much. At least there is the gases of our
burned off yet and charcoal to that guy. That kind of got me. I am charcoal filtering, because these charcoal a filter anything these. It is discovered two on smokestacks and
If you're, like a did some those survival articles at one point, one of the things you can do to purify water,
is take your char from your fire. Put it in like a cool down, obviously, and then put it in and put him like a hand
and then running creek water through that two collected underneath this autumn and in there's like real charcoal filters to
Apparently charcoal has equality, has once it's pure carbon, like that. It has a knack for filtering out things like impurities, like chlorine and letting other stuff get through. So that's why it's used as a filter, yet because, essentially, what you're, making as a carbon filter, yet charcoal is like basically pure carbon, with all the impurities burned off. Yet those impurities burned off his smoke, their volatile gas says preening, yet it's pretty awful survival to man you're killing. Today, while methods is when I go to sleep there, okay, so the third component of burned, would you got the volatile gases smoke? You have the char the charcoal, yet I which car,
And they have ash, which is unbearable, minerals like calcium or phosphorus. I believe yeah. It's like you ever has to look with briquettes stark, oberkellner you're, getting a lot more ash with that, because it has a lot of more like byproducts than if he is like real would Turkle ripening, Agnes smokers, neck and burn yes can be left over like you can't get rid of it. You compounded into oblivion.
But it's still there you have it. If used the real, would call then jar, then you ll notice. You don't get a lot of that stuff hours every year.
But we're gives his nasty other synthetic, because now there made from char unlike binding agents and stuff like that, decide ourselves now actually used to hear that, like, oh, you can't could briquettes or so nasty, but the really look into this matter.
Lastly, you probably should surplus somewhere between their secret ass. Well, it's not,
It's not as bad as I thought. I thought it was like a bunch of chemical agents in
glue and cement, and let us not forget I get it: it's not the hot dogs of cooking material, the corn, dog. Ok, ok, forget component right yeah, as these volatile gases continue to heat up to about five hundred degrees Fahrenheit, yet two hundred sixty degrees Celsius, the arm the molecules break apart and when they break apart, they go to combine with oxygen oxidation right. Everything happens with the carbon in the world that this takes place place much more slowly, but one. Only these stars of this chemical reactions, this change of breaking down these molecules and then the recombining into other things like.
Dioxide, carbon monoxide water in their we're that fireplaces water Hannah. That's why sometimes you have steam coming from a fiery. The star of all this chemical reactions of these chemical reactions is heat is produced, heat energy is released, which allows us to cook and be comfortable and feel secure and all the good stuff to fire exactly and because the heat that's released. As these things are heated up, it is sustainable,
the fires sustainable so long as their fuel as oxygen present yeah. That was the kind of creepy part and creepy, but it self perpetuating like that flame is gonna heat up any fuel nearer to the point where it can really says: gases to recombine with oxygen. It's pretty elegant about another figure star of fire. Besides heat is light, and part of that is from the same. The carbon atoms right, yeah that are combining that are being torn apart. The molecules that form of the charge right breaking down in their constituent carbon atoms when they combine with oxygen right, recombine yeah. I think that would make carbon monoxide.
But ass they change they. Their electrons will go up. Energy level will change orbit and when they come back down, they emit they release some of their energy that they have and they release it in the form of photons produce light
anyway: indefinite train, yeah, it's it's! He producing life
we talked about via and are aware basically heat up a filament in alive.
Olbinett, glows, that's the same thing with the fires same based on the same principle: it is incandescence reaction and, depending on the temperature, different colored light is gonna be produced year. Like you remember,
the bunsen burners back in chemistry class and have a bunch of earners have little slots on aside that you can vary the amount of like oxygen getting in there in others. The little
during orange flame of the consumer,
If you get a lot more oxygen in it's gonna, be more can be more hot.
Well that's what that's when it's gonna be that blue jet the same
when you see like a jet playin like right next to it
plane comes out at home, be like really blew, and then it gets more,
engine yellow. You know, like the bat, mobile yeah, I'm saying I don't know exactly regional better and we ve seen budget that will bills recently. There's a documentary about the battle, the thorough, that's where others were. Therefore comecon. We had, I mean a hundred picture taken with it with which one thing you want the tumblr, that's what they call the new and is it the other criminal.
I discovered tat. The crystal was often sprinkle, so yet the young. The reason why the blue one happens to be a different, color and hotter is because there's more energy being released.
The lower energy and slightly less hot part of the flame close Orange yellow, is at the top and the reason of flame is pointed this. Video municipality awesome, not the fact of the past the space parties- ok, I think God, and so a flame is pointed and burned up,
because the thing gases that are burning what you burning right, there are volatile gas there being burned off right as they as the burn, the their hotter, but there also less dense and they're moving upward toward the less dense air above it which causes it to be pointed. But if you were the light, you take it for granted that it's kind of cold and how that works, the toy it always burns upward, yet
the burn upward. Not always us always brings up where and let us away its pointed to because the around it is dancing is pushing it yeah right, pretty asked
But if you are in a light, a fire in zero gravity, it would burn. Is a sphere see this? I do too I mean. Can it be done? If we go into your gravity sure we have, but I may never see your gravity environments is today attack. Surely someone has started a fire and one, as does the sea? This, I think, is a really bad at the fire starts in zero gravity environment. I guess that's
I gotta think that someone strike this usher absolute video on Youtube now, there's value good reason why in someone's can reigns in heat dummies? Don't you understand that when you start of iron dear gravity that we all die attract, ok, so steam was taken
the Incas, because we talk about the re combination of atoms when these gases are released,
heavens any boil water. You know you get these. This gas mix
with oxygen, the air, but it's not gonna combust thank thankfully or a cooking, would be much more dangerous.
It's because some of these items, art is attracted to each other in the case of water for sure they're tepid toward one.
If you talk and fire, though they have our carbon and hydrogen, which are wrong.
The attracted the oxygen, and so they like to get together
and combine recombine more easily, but pretty simple, and then we ve with how you mostly about wood as a fuel, but other things are our fuel
leads a good few. Open gasoline doesn't pretty char. Basically, heat vaporize is gasoline and do nothing but volatile gases with bird yeah. The total,
it always her to the gasoline ignites like the vapor ignites right, not the liquids at her yeah yeah. That's not it's! Not the liquid. It's the gas right, but heat causes other liquid to turn into the gas right which goes Kaboom. So different fuels are going to catch a different temperatures,
And no matter what the fuel it'll have a piloted ignition temperature in an unpolluted ignition temperature, basically, the piloted ignition temperatures that that point, that temperature, where the volatile gases are being released and their heated up to the point where, if you introduce a spark who would blow up that's right, one of the defining characteristics of a volatile gas is that it is basically disperses at room temperature, ripely Fraga. So at some point in introducing a spark is gonna set that off at some temperature right, which I guess means that, like, if you
gasoline cooled to enough of a temperature, just lighting a match next to it, won't set off the gas I dont know. If this is a question, we should be reminded that seriously a general already and don't try this. I'm curious so ass to check that out yet, but the unpolluted ignition temperatures, basically when something is hit by lightning. The heat is so intense that there's no need for a spark is heated up the pirate out some fire where it can be ass, right, critical and I try to get to the origin of pilot like a pilot light, which is the same thing. I guess I can find it unaware that came from because yet think about you, ve got the gas burning in that its glowing there and he just hit the spark in Bam. You just ignited the gas at the pilot
piloted ignition temperature in your hot water heater. But I m sure someone knows the answer that if you do synonym here's the thing. Saving money with Geico was almost better than playing pick up: Basketball
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which in save with Geiger it's almost
better than sports were raising a lot of questions and giving some answers the shape and by shape, usually they mean like surface area. Yeah they are of a fuel, affects how efficient
it burns and how easily it burns to yeah. I mean this is pretty basic likely to have a big, thick log. Obviously, you're gonna have whales
surface area exposed incombustible, then, if you had like a toothpick yeah
absorb a lot more heat to getting sick log. But, yes, you have a bunch of little pieces of wood. It's gonna burn more quickly catch more easily here, because there's more explosive, its surface temperature and more of that fuels is exposed to the heat
a big, like you said, a big log or something yeah. That's why? When you're starting to have you ever watched a bare girls, do a singer or less Stroud. They try to get the little like
little shavings from the inside over like appeal away the bark on a tree and then get the shavings offered the tree itself right. That's stuff! It's gonna like really combust easily through friction with, like others, different ways of doing the little I've never been. I've never done that. Have you have you certify using like frequent? Have you really impressive? I do that stuff,
I go camping now for fun, like oh here in front of the real fire. You know that we started with a big, lighter strata and am sitting there with my beer and my southern comfort and my comfy chair right and the stake is on the girl. Out of this little survival. Stuff discover fun, it's cool until I get tired of it give up there, but yet one
Why am I talk to you for knowing how to do that? Well, it's pretty easy. I mean there's different ways: there's the plow method or that the little bow were you make the little stringed bow and do that all member yeah I've seen that one is the cast away. What yeah that's the plow method outlets per year makes. It may be called that if anything else, I don't think so. Do you think she filigree explain this correctly and well? Yeah minutes, it's pretty basic chemistry. Basically, heat breaks down a fuel so that it can comply with oxygen me and ignite the bird, the trade in itself
as long as there's fuel and oxygen, and then I need is a bearskin rug and substantive acts and you're all set for Friday night often gets you want to know more about fire. You can type fire into the search bar has the ports that calm and that will bring at this hour.
One plenty of other stuff too, maybe even some survival stuff by one child of your bride censorship.
But so far less than their male chuck. Yes, we should tell everybody, but
very special in due to our hearts Nixon. That's right. We,
are going to COMECON and we will be doing a lie: podcast on Friday October, twelve yeah
Mc Gowan, jabbered centre, the flickering you think we did San Diego, never do New York, the right mix up eloquent. So if you
going to COMECON. You should combine see that, but after COMECON we have,
one of our famous payments to us.
I'll start Tribune threat where's it gonna be. There
it is at the grand
opening of the cutting room in the flattering districts, which is what the address it is forty four east thirty second street in New York and out in the fire,
yep doors open, a seven, thirty trivia goes down eight thirty and what its first come. First served: free, free, free,
Come first served we will have a bar there that you can buy drinks yeah
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Having a really good time of you, if you're not familiar with our trivia nights like just come out and check now, it'll be worth your while
absolutely and stay tuned for info on Facebook and twitter about the make up of the
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and at the very least income. Take on me, and yet there is this one. So what is that it's Friday October, twelve right, yet
panels? It went
is at least six forty five, ok and then we're gonna be the cutting room. Thirty eight third should be started it
the doors and seven thirty feet. Airbus, where you are good at this thinking, are the time for listener: mail,
we call this email with bad the bone so
one stone hearing Victoria BC, Canada, apparently hates bad about just as much as I do that we're we're friends in there,
She says a few years ago, my partner TIM discover that he could set anything on his.
Desired on his alarm clock for itself in the search for the perfect timing, decided on that
I don't believe in order slowly get himself ready for the day he needed, alarms at five, a m five. Thirty six
I, on the other hand, wake up without alarm at six thirty without fear what I did
every morning I was shocked by the full volume.
The way to wake up right. I would gladly
to a sitting position in bed. My heart exploding at my chest and looked next to me at him, who was sleeping through the whole of it. I would punish him get up turn out the alarm. Myself, then repeat this tumor times what kind of business partners are they for this purpose?
that was lacking in american beauty, younger that oh yeah, I'd like you to meet your partners ago, Atlanta working guys here is a quantum leap meeting Lodestar her
for some reason, no matter how much I begged him, he would change a song or let me turn
by him. If I secretly change or bed, he would change it back. I tried it
often hide its own. He would find it in turn it back again
the wind down. While he was sleeping spidey sentence for tingling and he'd wake
in turn it back on to turn into a game that lasted a full year. Finally, ending when I told them sliver of amuse
I found in the game was gone and I with rose
the ocean, if you didn't change it, Sir said Missus upon anymore,
I wanted a buying alarm clock radio which he also sweep through now thinks the TIM every come here better the bone in public.
I immediately the area lest I exploded, a muddy scalding rock going rage like
one man you guys her in this he said PS. I guess I'm going after all. That is that the just one! Thank you just victory by seeking a tin, collective justly, because by day I saw you can both agree
in time to get upload? Some for some people are tired. I didn't. I never understood this news because when you
sleep that time with you, but I'm saying like
being woken up. Everything is not that easy, just wake right up and right. I was you.
See what
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Transcript generated on 2020-01-17.