Why do flames take a clearly defined form, rather than fire just being a glow of incandescent radiation? | AskScience Blog

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Saturday, November 5, 2016

Why do flames take a clearly defined form, rather than fire just being a glow of incandescent radiation?

Why do flames take a clearly defined form, rather than fire just being a glow of incandescent radiation?


Why do flames take a clearly defined form, rather than fire just being a glow of incandescent radiation?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 08:15 PM PDT

I think I've got a decent understanding of what fire is, insofar as it's hot air making things look wavy while the rapid oxidation of the fuel creates heat that emits a lot of visible light due to incandescence. However, this still doesn't explain to me why there's generally a very clearly defined flame, with sharp edges to it. Why wouldn't the glow of the oxidizing fuel (let's say, wood in a campfire) just glow in all directions equally, kind of like a red-hot piece of metal? What creates the appearance of the flame itself?

submitted by /u/graaahh
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How do we know chemical reactions doesn't react with air?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 10:20 AM PDT

for example

A+B-> C

How do we know there isn't air involved in A+B?

Don't you need to have a vacuüm to be 100% sure there is no air involved?

submitted by /u/PekkyFTW
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When heavy elements, like gold, are made in supernovae are they formed uniformly before coalescing into larger clumps or are they formed irregularly in different areas of the supernova?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 10:15 PM PDT

Do animals other than humans find sex pleasurable? If not, why are humans the only species that seeks out sex for pleasure rather than for reproduction?

Posted: 05 Nov 2016 07:32 AM PDT

Since CERN recently found out that atoms are pear shaped, and point in a certain direction that dictates time direction, is it possible that time moves in a different way we don't comprehend in different universes?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 06:40 PM PDT

I'm probably stupid but I'm curious and I guess that what matters, I'm a high school sophomore so please explain in terms I can understand

submitted by /u/FinnTheCunt
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How many Logs base 3 would we have to apply to Graham's number to bring it below 10?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 11:22 PM PDT

In relation to the quantum eraser - what constitutes as 'information'?

Posted: 05 Nov 2016 06:01 AM PDT

I've been reading on the double slit experiment, and I have an interesting question to ask.

My understanding of the quantum eraser is this: If measurements are made to determine which of the two slits the photon goes through, it behaves like a particle. However, if the results of the measurement is erased before checking the pattern, an interference pattern is produced.

So it would seem that the determining factor is information. If there is any information stored about which slit the photon went through, it behaves like a particle, and if that information is erased before the pattern is observed, it will be an interference pattern.

My question is this - if the result of the measurement were shown to a rat before being erased, the rat's brain would hold the information about which slit the photon went through, but he wouldn't be able to process it. Would there be an interference pattern? What if immediately after the rat was shown the results of the measurement, he was incinerated, destroying the brain and all memories in it. Would there be an interference pattern?

Thank you!

submitted by /u/MUSICEATPEOPLE
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What is it about a gene that makes it dominant or recessive?

Posted: 05 Nov 2016 05:42 AM PDT

We all know from middle school/high school biology that dominant alleles mask recessive alleles. But what concretely about a gene, chemically, biologically, or physically, makes it more likely to be expressed? Where does dominance come from?

submitted by /u/feynman1729
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Can electricity wear down conducting media, like wires?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 06:52 PM PDT

I know transistors can be worn down by flowing current, but can wires/cables too?

submitted by /u/broccholio
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Why do electrons have spin 1/2 and photons have spin 1?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 07:40 PM PDT

I learned in quantum mechanics that electrons are fermions and fermions have half integer spin, and that photons are bosons and bosons have full integer spin. However, this was always just stated as fact, and we didn't derive it. Is this just one of those measured quantities, like the charge of an electron? Or is there some theoretical way of showing that electrons must have half integer spin and photons have full integer spin?

submitted by /u/x3nodox
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How were Quarks and Antimatter discovered?

Posted: 05 Nov 2016 07:59 AM PDT

Hi, I'm currently reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, and I've reached the part where he talks about discovery of Quarks, and he mentions that they are classified by colour and flavour. Can you guide me to the experiments that drove the discovery of multiple quarks and classification (what made them think there are multiple of these quarks and the experiments that proved this)? Another thing he mentions is the discovery of the positron, yet he doesn't mention the how and why that drove the discovery. Can you guide me to the evidence that suggested the existence of antimatter and the experiments that proved it? Thanks in advance.

submitted by /u/DudeElite
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How much of a drop of water is contained the the splash formed when it hits another liquid?

Posted: 05 Nov 2016 07:49 AM PDT

This question was much harder to phrase than I was planning on, but here goes. For example, if I were to let a drop of liquid X fall into a large amount of liquid Y, it will form a neat little splash like this. Do we have any information on how much of that splash will be liquid X and how much will be liquid Y? How does it vary with liquid viscosity, density, etc? Speed of the drop? Angle of impact?

submitted by /u/sjones92
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When a Pistol Shrimp snaps its claw and forms a cavitation bubble, what forms in the bubble? Does the air have normal gas concentrations or is it something altogether different?

Posted: 05 Nov 2016 07:37 AM PDT

Why are Pulsars rates not slowing down despite Hubble's law?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 09:50 PM PDT

Hubble's law tells us faraway objects are receding form us. That means that with each revolution (or set of revolutions) it should take light longer to reach us. Would that not have the effect of making the frequency of the pulsars appear to decrease with time?

I've ran the math on some known millisecond pulsars and the difference should be SIGNIFICANT. They shouldn't even be millisecond pulsars after even one year.

submitted by /u/alikp
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What determines if a star (after going red super-giant and supernova) Will become a Neutron Star, or a Black Hole?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 08:43 PM PDT

Say the original massive star had a mass 8 times that of our Sun, it goes Red Super-Giant and then goes supernova. What determines what the supernova will become, and how can you tell if you're given its approximate mass? (Neutron Star or a Black Hole) Any replies will probably help. I have looked it up, but I'm finding a few different answers around, and it's mostly just confusing me more. Thanks!

submitted by /u/inwe-meneldur
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Re: the famous experiment where they put little stilts on ants before their walk home, and they walked too far (meaning the ants must remember either how many steps it was or how long it took)... If they had just moved the ants 50 feet further away, wouldn't they have looked for home 50 feet sooner?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 06:39 PM PDT

Seems like that would have proven the same thing, without the need to glue tiny stilts onto their legs...

submitted by /u/OmitsWordsByAccident
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What is the smallest theoretical size a nuclear fusion reactor capable of 'breakeven' could be?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 03:24 PM PDT

Why does gravity accelerate everything at the same rate?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 10:51 PM PDT

Rockets and other means of acceleration slow dow with greater mass, but gravity always accelerates everything the same rate.

submitted by /u/rodrick160
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Why is it favorable for anesthetics levobupivacaine and ropivacaine to be S-enantiomers?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 09:02 PM PDT

Say I have a black Asphalt roof tile and I have a Solarcity glass Photovoltaic panel. Which one would have less heat?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 05:10 PM PDT

Would the fact energy from the bombardment of solar photons into the metal leafs in the glass actually remove infrared heat as the electron is passed out and down into a battery or house? Or would it be the the same level of Infrared energy produced from the photons hitting the surface with no easier dissipation of built up heat?

submitted by /u/PatrickPlan8
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Why are atomic subshells shaped the way they are?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 04:37 PM PDT

Looking at pictures, in a way, it looks like l represents the number of linear divisions, while n represents the number of radial divisions. Is this true, and if so why?

submitted by /u/mopperv
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If Neanderthals were a separate species, how were Homo Sapiens able to produce fertile offspring with them?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 12:46 PM PDT

What is the difference between "Fast Charging" and regular charging? What processes are Involved?

Posted: 04 Nov 2016 01:51 PM PDT

I have rudimentary knowledge of how the lithium-ion batteries function and how "recharging" works in them. However, with a lot of high-tier phones implementing this tech over the last few years, I'm curious as to what it actually does, and how it works.

submitted by /u/ThatCollegeUndergrad
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