Why does fire turn blue in space?

“Normal flames produce soot, CO2, and water. Cool flames produce carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.” So there it is — a cool flame without soot! And therefore a candle flame on the space station produces no incandescence, resulting in a pale blue flame instead of a bright yellow-white flame.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on medium.com


Why is fire blue in space?

Sometimes, the fuel — long strings of carbon — gets pushed upwards where it burns like charcoal, glowing yellow. Without gravity, the carbon strings don't get burned, and the flame is blue, cooler, and much much dimmer. Studying fire in microgravity can render some important practical insight.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on zmescience.com


Can fire be naturally blue?

But do you know that you can also find blue fire in nature? You can, but there are only 2 main places in the world where you can find it; in “Kawah Ijen Craters”, Indonesia and in Dallol mountain, Ethiopia. Sometimes you can also see it in the “Iceland Craters”.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on traveltomorrow.com


What does fire do in no gravity?

Without gravity, hot air expands but doesn't move upward. The flame persists because of the diffusion of oxygen, with random oxygen molecules drifting into the fire. Absent the upward flow of hot air, fires in microgravity are dome-shaped or spherical—and sluggish, thanks to meager oxygen flow.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on smithsonianmag.com


What is the blue thing in fire?

The blue in wood flames comes from carbon and hydrogen, which emit in the blue and violet. Copper compounds make green or blue, lithium makes red.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on earthsky.org


Fire in ZERO-G!!



Is blue fire hotter than lava?

Actual lava is red-orange in color, given its temperature. Truly-blue lava would require temperatures of at least 6,000 °C (10,830 °F), which is much higher than any lava can naturally achieve on the surface of the Earth.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on en.wikipedia.org


What color is the hottest fire?

Blue flames are the hottest, followed by white. After that, yellow, orange and red are the common colours you'll see in most fires. It's interesting to note that, despite the common use of blue as a cold colour, and red as a hot colour – as they are on taps, for instance – it's the opposite for fire.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on target-fire.co.uk


What does space smell like?

Astronaut Thomas Jones said it "carries a distinct odor of ozone, a faint acrid smell…a little like gunpowder, sulfurous." Tony Antonelli, another space-walker, said space "definitely has a smell that's different than anything else." A gentleman named Don Pettit was a bit more verbose on the topic: "Each time, when I ...
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sfumatofragrances.com


Do guns work in space?

Fires can't burn in the oxygen-free vacuum of space, but guns can shoot. Modern ammunition contains its own oxidizer, a chemical that will trigger the explosion of gunpowder, and thus the firing of a bullet, wherever you are in the universe. No atmospheric oxygen required.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on livescience.com


Why can't you light a candle in a spaceship?

“Diffusion is slower than convection in microgravity, so the rate of combustion is slower than on the Earth's surface,” says Johnson. “In space, less oxygen is required for a flame to sustain, and it will burn longer because oxygen is being consumed more slowly.”
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on engineering.mit.edu


Is there pink fire?

To make pink flames, sprinkle lithium chloride or a combination of strontium and potassium salts onto a fire. It's easy to make pink flames or pink fire if you apply a bit of chemistry. Here is a look at how pink flame work and suggested colorants that are readily available and non-toxic.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sciencenotes.org


Can black fire exist?

This is black fire. When you mix a sodium street light or low-pressure sodium lamp with a flame, you'll see a dark flame thanks to the sodium and some excited electrons. “It's strange to think of a flame as dark because as we know flames give out light, but the sodium is absorbing the light from the lamp.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on thekidshouldseethis.com


How hot is purple fire?

The color of the flames is apart of temperature affected also by the type of fuel used (i.e. the material being burned) as some chemicals present in the material can taint flames by various colors. Blue-violet (purple) flames are one of the hottest visible parts of fire at more than 1400°C (2552°F).
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on alexaanswers.amazon.com


Can a candle burn in zero gravity?

A candle can burn in zero gravity, but the flame is quite a bit different. Fire behaves differently in space and microgravity than on Earth.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on thoughtco.com


Can fire exist without oxygen?

Air is made-up of about 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and less than 1% other gases including carbon dioxide and water vapor. Fire only needs about 16% oxygen to burn. Without oxygen, fires won't burn.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on spectrumnews1.com


Can you burp in space?

On Earth, gravity pulls liquids and solids to down to the bottom of our digestive systems, while gases stay up top and get forced back up the esophagus as a burp. That can't happen in space. Without gravity to separate them, “the air, food and liquids in your stomach are all floating together like chunky bubbles.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on qz.com


How cold is space?

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite has refined temperature measurements taken way back in 1964. According to data from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, the temperature of space is 2.725K (2.725 degrees above absolute zero).
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sciencefocus.com


Is there any sound in space?

No, there isn't sound in space.

This is because sound travels through the vibration of particles, and space is a vacuum. On Earth, sound mainly travels to your ears by way of vibrating air molecules, but in near-empty regions of space there are no (or very, very few) particles to vibrate – so no sound.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on cosmosmagazine.com


Why is there no sound in space?

Sound does not travel at all in space. The vacuum of outer space has essentially zero air. Because sound is just vibrating air, space has no air to vibrate and therefore no sound. If you are sitting in a space ship and another space ship explodes, you would hear nothing.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on wtamu.edu


Do you age in space?

In space, people usually experience environmental stressors like microgravity, cosmic radiation, and social isolation, which can all impact aging. Studies on long-term space travel often measure aging biomarkers such as telomere length and heartbeat rates, not epigenetic aging.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on publichealth.berkeley.edu


Will a body decay in space?

In space we can assume that there would be no external organisms such as insects and fungi to break down the body, but we still carry plenty of bacteria with us. Left unchecked, these would rapidly multiply and cause putrefaction of a corpse on board the shuttle or the ISS.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sciencefocus.com


How much do astronauts get paid?

The pay grades for civilian astronaut candidates are set by federal government pay scales and vary based on academic achievements and experience. According to NASA , civilian astronaut salaries range from $104,898 to $161,141 per year. Here are a few of the benefits offered to civilian astronauts: Health care.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on indeed.com


What is the coldest color of fire?

In theory, the coldest possible fire color is black. Color also tells us about the temperature of a candle flame. The hottest color is white, with blue following close behind.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on elempresario.mx


What is the coldest fire?

In theory, the coldest possible fire color is black.

That is the fuel is burning, but so little energy is being produced that there's no light being emitted and very little heat too.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on firefighterinsider.com


Is green fire real?

Copper Sulfate Green Fire

Sprinkle solid copper sulfate onto a fire to impart a green flame. Copper sulfate dissolves in rubbing alcohol and produces pure green fire. The copper compound is not consumed by the fire, so adding more fuel maintains the color.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sciencenotes.org
Previous question
Does honey loosen phlegm?