What State of Matter is Fire- and is it Alive?


Is the campfire you light every summer you go camping actually alive somehow? Also, what state of matter are we looking at when we consider fires?

We know these things:
- Fire cannot be a solid, in science solids are defined by their packed together molecules which are bunched up to keep its shape. Molecules are in a very cool 😎 lattice structure.

- Liquids are piled on top of each other molecularly and move to occupy the space of the container its stored in- always stuck to a floor of a container if its on earth under 1G as long as its not in motion.

- Gas expands to fill the entire volume of a container. It has no definite volume, volume changes depending on temperature and pressure. Particles are very far apart. There is high energy where particles are in constant motion.
 
The plasma of a star.
 
- Plasma no definite shape, like gas, it fills its container with charged particles. No definite volume, like a gas it fills its container but with charged particles. Extremely high energy compared to other states of matter. 

Fire burning.


Fire is a form of incandescent gas.

Much like a lighter and a star like the sun -though a fire is not quite plasma- but often mistaken for it- a fire is also a incandescent light!
 
Keep in mind its easy to tell a basic fire is not plasma because it blows out in the breeze, unlike the open flames of the big brother- our sun.
 
By the way, plasma is what scientists are playing around with in fusion reactors to create nearly free, sustainable energy. However, that's a topic for another blog post.
 
Goodbye. 

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