ESS 5.01 - ESS 5.03 Fire Behavior

fire

a rapid chemical process that usually produces heat and light.

fuel

form of energy

types of energy

chemical, electrical, and nuclear

chemical energy

energy created by a chemical reaction

endothermic reaction

absorbs heat

exothermic reaction

produces heat

electrical energy

energy that produces heat while traveling through a wire or another conductive material

nuclear energy

energy produced by splitting the nucleous of an atom into two smaller nuclei or by combining two smaller nuclei into one large nucleous

3 factors of fire

heat, fuel, oxygen

oxidizer

Any material that readily yields oxygen or other oxidizing gas, or that readily reacts to promote or initiate combustion of combustible materials.

combustion

combining a substance with oxygen to produce heat and light

smoke

a toxic by product

heat

A form of energy characterized by vibration of molecules and capable of initiating and supporting chemical changes and changes of state.

temperature

measure of a material's ability to transfer heat energy to other objects

matter

anything that takes up space and has mass

kinetic energy

The energy possessed by a body because of its motion.

potential energy

stored energy possessed by an object that can be released in the future to perform work once

Pyrolisis

the change from a solid fuel to a gas

Vaporization

the change from a liquid to a gas

Fire Tetrahedron

represents fuel, heat, oxygen, and self-sustaining chemical chain reaction.

kinetic energy transfer

moves from high-temperature to low-temperature substances

arcing

method of electrical energy that occurs when a high-temperature luminous discharge crosses a gap

convection

heat transfer that occurs through movement of hot smoke and fire gases

conduction

method of heat transfer that occurs when a material is heated as the result of direct contact with a heat source

radiation

method of heat transfer that can become the dominant mode as the fire grows in size