Paper That Does Not Burn

PAPER THAT DOES NOT BURN

पारुल की प्रयोगशाला - हिंदी में पढ़ें

What you will need ?

a)            A  piece of thick paper – You can  cut it                            
               from old greeting cards                  

b)            Scale                                                                    
c)            Pencil                                                                            

d)            Scissors

e)            Glue

f)             Candle, candle stand and matchbox

g)            Tongs/ Kitchen holder to hold the paper

                over the flame

What to do ?

1)            Take a piece of paper.

2)            Using pencil and scale draw lines on it as shown in the figure.

3)            Cut along the dotted lines. Now fold the edges as shown in the video and stick the overlapping pieces of paper with glue. Your paper boat is ready. Make two such boats. Alternately, a paper cup can also be used.

4)            Fix a candle in a stand and light it.

5)            Use tongs to hold a paper boat over the burning candle - It quickly catches fire.  Put the burning paper boat in the water bowl to put out the fire.

6)            Pour water in the second paper boat. Using tongs hold the water filled paper boat over the burning candle.  The paper becomes black with soot but it does not catch fire.

PAPER THAT DOES NOT BURN

The science behind it

Substances must reach a critical temperature called the combustion temperature before they begin to burn. When held over a flame the piece of paper quickly reaches the combustion temperature and begins to burn.

When the paper boat filled with water is held over the candle flame the water in the boat absorbs heat and does not allow the temperature of the paper to rise to its combustion temperature.  As a result the paper does not catch fire.

Applying the science

1)            Putting out a fire – When water is poured over a fire – the water absorbs the heat of the fire. This causes the temperature to drop and the fire is put out.

2)            Temperature regulation in living organisms – Living organisms have large amounts of water in their body. The water absorbs heat and helps to slow down the rise in body temperature.

There are no dumb questions

Q 1. Can all fires be put out with water?

Ans. No. Water removes heat from a fire. If a fire is very strong it can evaporate the water before the water can remove enough heat to put out the fire. You will need very large amounts of water to put out such fires. Moreover electrical fires are difficult to put out by using water.

Q 2. Can I use oil instead of water?

Ans. Don’t even try using oil. Using oil can be very dangerous as it can catch fire easily. We used water because water does not catch fire.

Q 3. Does the same science apply to cold compresses in fever?

Ans. That’s right. Cold compresses remove heat from the body and prevent dangerously high body temperatures.