Tony Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Obviously it must be heavy, flammable but not explosive and burn cleanly but what is it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 burns more like liquid fuel vapor to me rather than gas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam_r Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 burns more like liquid fuel vapor to me rather than gas? I would agree, BUT liquid fuel in a nearly sealed container i thought would have blown the glass container up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 I think it's a gas but..... very slow burning and not explosive hence my wonder of what type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 the only reason i suggested liquid was because of the final throws of flame popping, it looks like liquid evaporation and ignition as it pops. Might take a look online in a sec to see what gasses and liquids do this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Could a liquid be that thin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam_r Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Could a liquid be that thin? no liquid is dense in any form, there is a gas that is heavier than air that burns like thid but cant for the life of me remeber! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 SAGITAR WE NEED YOU!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 tadadaaaaaa Please wait a few moments for Video to Load! i thought methonal or isopropyl alcohol would do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagitar Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 SAGITAR WE NEED YOU!! Sorry Tony I haven't a clue what it is. Isopropyl alcohol perhaps, or isopropyl nitrate, both are used as rocket fuels. There are several volatile liquids that are relatively stable in isolation but which are very inflammable when warmed to create vapour and fed with oxygen. Brandy for example as in your Christmas pudding! A tiny amount of such a liquid if spread around the inner surface of a bottle and warmed slightly will fill the bottle with vapour and lighting it at the neck of the bottle can limit the extent to which air can feed oxygen to the flame - the hot gas exhausting from the neck of the bottle stops air from entering, so you get controlled combustion until the very end when air finally gets in and the last vestige of the gas/vapour explodes. I can remember junior school experiments with hydrogen that gave a very satisfying pop. Combustion is a complex process that depends upon pressure as well as temperature. Cordite in free air burns quite gently but explodes if you constrain it in such a way that the pressure/temperature rises. So I would think that the ratio of the area of the neck of the bottle to the area of cross section of the main part of the bottle will play a part in how quickly it burns. I can't finish without saying that setting fire to any volatile substance in a closed or constrained container is a very risky business likely to lead to an explosion, personal injury and a spreading fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP09 Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Hi, At last a question I can answer! What you and I know as "alcohol" - the stuff in the Vodka bottle - is one of a series of compounds claaed "alcohols". Each one has a carbon "backbone" andwhat wewe chemists call a funtional group of "OH" where the O is oxygen, and the H is one hydrogen. The shortest carbon backbone = one carbon atom - one carbon atom forms methanol two carbon atoms forms ethanol three carbon atoms propanol and so on. Methanol has a low boiling point (it produces lots of vapour easily) - 65 C ethanol has a hgher boiling point - about 90C and so on. What you're seing is the vapour abovr the liquid burning - it's about the same density as air, and this has been carefully prepared. DON'T try this at home - vapour / air explosions are messy - especially with a glass vessel in the way. Interestingly, methanol is poisonous - ehtanol is less toxic (don't try for the third bottle of Vodka) but propanol starts to be more toxic again. The Meths that you buy is about 5% methanol, 92% ethanol - and the rest is the purple dye and stuff to make it undrinkable... HTH guys CP09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Thanks, that throws and explanation toward something i knew was unusual, creapy stuff to watch burn though, do you know if it's a cold or very hot burn as stupid as that may sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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