The burning process can be viewed on either the molecular scale or the macro scale.
The macro scale refers to things we can easily see. (As scientists we mean things we can observe - is there a difference between seeing and observing? Think about it!)
We can't really see things occur on the molecular scale, but we can use models (or pictures or animations) to help us visualize what's happening. Let's look at the stages of a fire on the molecular scale.
| Stage I. | Heating | an external source supplies heat causing the temperature of the substance to increase. The extent of temperature change depends on the specific heat of the material. |
| Stage II. | Transition | physical, mechanical, and thermal properties change. This may include melting or vaporization of the substance and may involve softening in the case of polymers. |
| Stage III. | Degradation | thermally unstable bonds begin to break. Materials such as polymers may melt before (or as) they burn. |
| Stage IV. | Decomposition | at still higher temperatures the majority of the bonds reach failure point, causing the release of gaseous molecules which differ depending on the material that's burning. |
| Stage V. | Oxidation | in the presence of oxygen at high temperatures, oxidation of the gaseous fragments proceeds rapidly producing heat, flame, and combustion products (mostly carbon dioxide and water). |
The macro scale describes changes that we can observe with the naked (rated PG13) eye. The stages of a fire on the macroscale are described below.
| Stage I. | Initial fire | an initial fire can be generated from a variety of ignition sources | .
| Stage II. | Fire build-up | the initial fire generates more heat that causes further decomposition and vaporization of additional material that burns, producing dense smoke and toxic gases. The rate of fire build-up depends on the ease of ignition, measured by the ignition temperature. |
| Stage III. | Flashover | when most of the combustible material reaches a temperature above the ignition temperature, the material bursts into flame, in a near-explosive manner. This is really cool. |
| Stage IV. | Fully-developed fire | all combustible material is contributing to the fire, with extensive heat, smoke, and toxic gas generation. Containing the fire becomes more important than extinguishing it. |
| Stage V. | Fire propagation |
a developed fire becomes the ignition source for adjacent materials, leading to the development of new fires (that is, the fire spreads from one room to another) |
Recall the Fire Triangle and think about how it applies to both the molecular and the macro scales.
Source:
Hilado, C. J. Flammability Handbook for Plastics, 5th Ed.
Technomic Publishing: Lancaster, PA,1998; p. 29-37.
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