Tell me more ×
Physics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for active researchers, academics and students of physics. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 11 down vote favorite
2

Recently, I have stumbled upon a YouTube video by Veritasium describing the conductivity of fire. My question is: how exactly does fire conduct electricity? I am a high school student; therefore appropriate language is expected.

http://youtu.be/a7_8Gc_Llr8?hd=1

share|improve this question
3  
I believe you meant flame, which can contain ionized gas. That should conduct if a non-negligible number of charge carriers are present. – liberias Nov 26 '12 at 2:19
Related (nearly a duplicate): physics.stackexchange.com/q/23469/520. – dmckee♦ Jan 16 at 17:39

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

This video illustrates how a candle flame conducts a high voltage (10,000 volts). Although the ion density is small in a candle flame, they are sufficiently present to conduct electricity.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

Fire is a plasma and plasmas conduct electricity. This is because in a plasma an important portion of the atoms are ions. This means that there are free charges on the plasma that move if a voltage is applied to the plasma, this creates a current.

share|improve this answer
3  
Most sources don't consider the ion density in fire to be sufficiently high to be classified as plasma. However, at high voltages, electrical conduction can occur in spite of the low ion density. – Michael Luciuk Nov 26 '12 at 17:45

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.