• Question: why is fire hot?

    Asked by rida to Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Burning is a chemical reaction that produces energy and gases and some of this energy is emitted as heat 🙂 some of it is emitted as light too 🙂

    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Fire is the result of a chemical reaction which releases energy stored in chemical bonds. When something burns, the energy liberated is quickly released as heat and light, which we see as fire.

      In a common fire, the radiative energy is generally released as visible light and heat (infrared) — the color of the flame is usually an indication of the chemicals being burnt or released.

    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      A chemical reaction to release energy, light, sound and heat

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