Fire

chemistry · heat · energy · nature

Burning fuel fast. Fire happens when something gets hot enough to react super quickly with oxygen in the air. This releases lots of energy as heat and light.

Heat makes flames. Flames are the glowing, colorful parts you see. They form when fuel gets hot enough to release burning gases that glow with different colors depending on what's burning.

Color tells the story. A flame's color depends on what fuel is burning. Wood fires glow orange and yellow, while some chemicals burn blue or green because of different elements in them.

Burning makes gases. When fire consumes fuel, it creates new substances like carbon dioxide and water vapor that float into the air. Fire is constantly changing one thing into other things through chemistry.

Fire needs three things. Fires need fuel to burn, oxygen from the air, and heat to get started. Remove any one of these, and the fire goes out.