Why does wood catch fire and metal doesn't?

Combustion is a chemical reaction that releases energy from an unstable system with relatively weak chemical bonds. All things tend to move toward lower, more stable energy, especially organic molecules. As a result, materials like wood and paper, which are made from cellulose—a molecule made of weak bonds between carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen—are susceptible to fire.

Wood, when burned, is very flammable, while metal is not.

Wood releases energy by catching fire.

According to University of Oregon chemist Carl Brozek, a fuel is anything that burns, and it can be anything made from organic material. In this case, “organic” refers to molecules made from mostly carbon-hydrogen bonds, sometimes including oxygen or other atoms like phosphorus or nitrogen.

Combustible materials like wood and paper are made of cellulose, a molecule that contains bonds between carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. When something burns, it releases a lot of energy because the unstable system with high energy changes to a stable state with lower energy.

When burning, yellow fire spots will appear around the stick.

When wood burns, the cellulose in it is converted into carbon dioxide and water vapor - both of which are very stable molecules with strong bonds. The energy released in this chemical reaction causes electrons in the surrounding air molecules to become excited and emit light. This is why we see the yellow sparks around a burning stick.

Instead of transferring heat, wood releases the energy it receives by catching fire. If we make wood better at absorbing heat, it might also be able to resist burning when exposed to fire. Brozek says that if a fire is set on a paper cup filled with water, the cup will not burn because the water in the cup can absorb the heat.

How to make fire from wood

Imagine being lost in a jungle or stranded on a deserted island. With no one to help you, you will have to find a way out. If you accidentally find yourself in such a situation, creating a fire is extremely important, helping you keep warm, cook food, boil water, fight wild animals, create smoke signals, and many other uses.

If you don’t have a lighter or matches, make your own fire with just two small sticks, one of the oldest ways to make fire. All you need is a long stick and a shorter stick, a knife or a small rock with a sharp edge, and a bundle of tinder, which can be made from dry leaves, coconut shells, or other combustible materials.

There are many ways to make fire, for example, rubbing two stones together can also produce fire.

The first thing is to use a knife or a sharp stone to grind the long wooden stick to create a flat surface, then create a small groove on that surface. Continue to cut the end of the small wooden stick beveled. Fix the long wooden stick, you can sit on it. Then hold the short wooden stick tightly with both hands, continuously apply pressure and grind on the long wooden stick in the groove created.

The speed should be increased until smoke appears and the wood shavings begin to burn. You can stop and carefully transfer the burning wood shavings to the prepared tinder bundle. Now gently blow on the tinder bundle until a flame appears. Remember that fuel, oxygen and heat are the three necessary elements to create a flame. As the flame gradually appears, you can blow harder and add dry twigs to keep the fire going.

Tuyet Anh (Source: Synthesis)

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