The fire will go out when the fuel runs out, for example. And firefighting relies on these principles, so it's really important that we understand the science behind how fires work. And, a fire that is already burning will quickly go out. And if just one of the sides is taken away from the fire triangle, the fire will not start. These are the three things that we need to start a fire. And the third thing that we need is to start a fire - we need a heat source. The second thing we've got is oxygen and in the case of a fire we get the oxygen from the air.
The first thing we've got is a fuel and this is what we'd burn to release useful energy. And this shows the three things that we need for a fire to start. Tim: There are loads of examples of combustion, but I think it's best we explore this for now on a piece of paper. This is when a substance gains an oxygen atom in a reaction and this happens during combustion. And the final thing we need to know is oxidation. A fuel is a substance which is burned to release energy in a useful way. So, combustion is a chemical reaction when a fuel is burned to release energy. But, what do we actually need to to get started?ĭr. We're looking at combustion and oxidation in relation to chemical reactions. So, given today's subject is all about chemical reactions, we couldn't be in better company. Tim Gregory knows a thing or two about creating things that go BANG and BOOM.
