Question: why doesnt the flame go inside a bunsen burner and blow us up
Comments
-
Sitting in the HYDROGEN zone thinking, awww I could have taken that one. Once did see my chem teacher light the gas pipe coming out of the bench in the lab when I was a nipper and I thought – ooh, won’t the building blow up if the flame gets sucked down? Then I realised there was no air in the pipe, so I chilled.
Mat
That’s because gas is being pushed outwards from the gas pipe, so it will always burn in an outwards direction.
BUT, it is still always important to remember to wear protective clothing when handling bunsen burners… fire is dangerous!
0
This is the same reason that the flame in you stove does not go down the pipe.
As Tara said the pipe supplying the gas is under pressure pushing the gas (and the air it has mixed with) out the top of the burner.
In addition the flame cannot get down the pipe and blow you up because there is no oxygen in the pipe, only gas. To have fire (or explosion) you need fuel, oxygen and heat and the oxygen only mixes with the gas once it gets in to the burner.
0
There are 2 reasons: 1. the gas is under pressure and gets forced out of the burner; and 2. The gas will only burn when there is the right mix of oxygen/gas, so nothing can ignite until the gas escapes into the air outside the burner. That little ring at the bottom of the burner (at least the older ones) hanges the mix of air/gas and that’s how you can adjust the “heat” of the flame
1
yeah, I agree with what these guys have already said above. Also, if bunsen burners were explosive, you wouldn’t get to use them in the lab, which would make science pracs less fun 🙂
0