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Lighting a match in space

Rubycon

Rubycon

Madame President
I've looked over SOFBALL papers and find it fascinating however let's assume you're in a vessel with a standard atmosphere like you'd find on earth. Same pressure, same temperature, identical composition of atmospheric gases, etc. Only thing is missing is gravity.

You light a match and toss it very slowly so it floats away. The speed of travel would be slow like 5 cm/sec. (Think like walking slow with a b-day cake with lighted candles so they don't blow out) How is it going to act? Flames in low or zero gravity environments are much different from what I've read.
 
This was demonstrated in the NASA pavilion at the Oshkosh fly-in one year.

They put a candle in a clear box, with a micro camera inside the box.

Te box was hoisted to ~8 feet and allowed to drop ... the video was recorded so it could be played back in slow-mo.

The flame becomes a small blue sphere around the wick and is greatly diminished in size.

In micro-gravity, there is no (or very, very little) convection, because the weight of the atmosphere is roughly equal ... so no heated (lighter) air to rise and draw in the cooler (heavier) air from below to stoke the flame. Combustion is more complete, so no/very little yellow flame.

It was a pretty slick demo. The people form NASA doing the demo are the folks that study things like "how to find out if you have an on-board fire and what to do about it."

Scan around the NASA site, they may have it or something silmiar for educational purposes.

FWIW

Scott
 
Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Link
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Yes I've seen this before. The stuff that I've looked at is actually from someone that worked for NASA. 🙂

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
did you used to be Minerva?
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Are you Howard? 😛

People are not actually reading the OP (regarding atmosphere) :laugh:

Anyways, yes I'm aware of experiments performed in space already. Due to the dangers of open flames in space, the "match volley" as described cannot be performed.

The ignition of a match, particularly from an intense beam of light is quite interesting on its own. Under extremely low Lewis Numbers it would be even more interesting. Ditto for super heating whiskers (metals) and other materials that glow and produce plasmas.

 
Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Originally posted by: Cattlegod
Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Originally posted by: spidey07
Umm, no oxygen? No flame.
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not true. you can have chemically-fueled flame
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as opposed to non chemically fueled flame 😕
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paper burning versus
phosphorous or sulfur (or other chemicals) burning

the paper needs oxygen. the others often do not.
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uhhh no
 
Originally posted by: Zolty
Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Originally posted by: Cattlegod
Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
Originally posted by: spidey07
Umm, no oxygen? No flame.
Click to expand...

not true. you can have chemically-fueled flame
Click to expand...


as opposed to non chemically fueled flame 😕
Click to expand...

paper burning versus
phosphorous or sulfur (or other chemicals) burning

the paper needs oxygen. the others often do not.
Click to expand...
uhhh no
Click to expand...



then explain how white phosphorous can burn under water? It couldn't derive enough oxygen from the water itsself to sustain it.
 
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