>That's a very poor test,
Its not the most ideal, but I wanted to recommend something he could try
easily to give him a quick and dirty answer.
>and the quantity is not what matters to the
>chemicals partaking (or not) in the reaction :-) The local heat
>capacity is.
Wrong. You need sufficient fuel to oxygen mix. Too little fuel or too
little o2, and it won't burn. My guess (and it was a guess, based on what
I know about fires), is the 3 in 1 oil that was on the fuser was too low
of a quantity to burn freely. That does NOT mean it won't smolder, it
just means you won't get a flame. I'd expect that there was a negligible
amount of oil actually on the fuser.
The heat capacity is but one factor in starting and sustaining a fire.
There are 4 parts needed for a fire: fuel, oxygen, heat, chemical
reaction. Remove any one, the fire goes out. All 4 have to be in the
correct "zone" for a fire to happen (what that zone is differs based on
fuel)
>The concrete keeps the oil much cooler than is required
>to *sustain* burning,
That's actually the point of using it. It won't sustain burning. When the
heat source is removed, the fire will go out on its own. However, a match
(which burns upward of 1000 degrees) will be sufficient to test the 320
degree limit of the oil to see if there is enough fuel to start a fire.
>Pour half a cup of petrol (er, gasoline) into a bucket
>of water, drop in a match, and watch the match go out...
You do that... I'll video tape. Gasoline floats on water, unless you
chase that cup of gas with the match, the gas will rapidly move to the
surface and start vaporizing. Your match will probably ignite the fumes
half way into the bucket, resulting in a nice POP as the remaining gas
bursts into flame... right on the surface of the water. Should be for a
fun video to watch. (we carry foam on our fire trucks specifically to
combat situations like gasoline fires... if you have a gasoline fire, DO
NOT add water... you just end up with a bigger gasoline fire.)
-chris
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Received on Wed Apr 14 2004 - 08:53:43 BST