Fire Characteristics: Gaseous Combustibles

Fire is basically a chemical reaction between combustibles and the oxygen of the air. The product of fire (smoke) consists of a complex mixture of chemicals that interact with humans trying to fight a fire or escape from a fire. Extin¬guishing agents and fire retardants are also chemicals. Clearly, an understand¬ing of chemistry is a prerequisite to a thorough understanding of fire protection. Certain branches of physics are also important in the understanding of fire. The rate of air mixing into flames, the buoyant rise of fire gases to the ceiling and the subsequent motion under the ceiling, and the escape of smoke from the fire compartment into connecting compartments are all key elements of the behavior of a fire.

Preface………...…………………………………………………………………3
1. Chemical Elements and Compounds: Atoms and Molecules…………..….4
1.1. What is an atom………………………………………………...…………...4
1.2. How stable is an atom……………………………………………….…….…6
1.3. What are the mass and size of an atom………………………………….….. 7

2. Physical and Chemical Change………………………………………….…..7
2.1. States of matter…………………………………………………………..…..7
2.2. Properties of Gases…………………………………………………….…….8
2.3. Properties of Liquids………………………………………………………...9
2.4. Properties of Solids…………………………………………………….….9
3. Fire Characteristics: Gaseous Combustibles……………………………….11
3.1. Types of gaseous flames…………………………………………………….11
3.2. Premixed Versus Diffusion Flames……………………………………..…..11
3.3. Laminar Versus Turbulent Flames……………………………………….…12
3.4. Stationary Versus Propagating Flames………………………………...……13
3.5. Ignition of gases………………………………………………………....…..13
Conclusion…………………………….………………………………………....15
Literature……………………………….……………………………………….16
Vocabulary…..………………………….……………………………………….17