| home | message board | FIRE | WATER | ETHER | EARTH | AIR | about us | products |

FIRE What is fire? "Fire is a rapid, self-sustaining oxidation process accompanied by the evolution of light and heat of varying intensities." --Richard L. Tuve, Principles of Fire Protection Chemistry, Boston: National Fire Protection Association, 1976. It's interesting to note, however, that an old pickup truck rusting in the backyard is undergoing exactly the same chemical reaction as a raging forest fire--only much more slowly. The "Fire Tetrahedron" shows the necessary components for combustion to occur, whether it's the slow rusting of a pickup truck, a raging forest fire, or high explosives. All four components must be present for combustion to occur--take away only one, and the fire goes out! Experiments with Fire Make some matchrockets a VERY cool demonstration of jet propulsion! See our Fire Engine! A great old 1967 Jeep type 6x Wildland Engine Microwave Plasma Balls Booze Bottle Fireworks High-power Rocketry Musical Flames Make GIANT matchrockets An even better (but more dangerous) version of the infamous matchrocket! Glow in the Dark Phosphorus Goo Made from the striker strips on safety match packages. Glows with friction. The Bic® Trick Make the leftover flint from a dead Bic® lighter into a startling fireworks display! We will gladly accept, review and consider your science experiment submissions for inclusion on this site, whether you are age 6 or age 100! Email us for details. Every experiment on these pages must be done with adult supervision only!!! If you are already an adult, we recommend getting a friend to help so you don't do anything childish and hurt yourself. We'll try to provide safety warnings, but cannot be held responsible for your own safety. Many of these experiments and many of the books we sell are from another era when safety was not a consideration, so PAY ATTENTION to the hazards of what you are doing! Wear safety goggles and gloves. Don't be stupid--YOU are supposed to be the adult here!

| home | message board | FIRE | WATER | ETHER | EARTH | AIR | about us | products |

All text and photos on this site are ©2002 by Forcefield

All images that we borrowed are believed to be in the public domain. If you think we have used a copyrighted image, please let us know and we will remove it.

THIS PAGE LAST UPDATED 1/30/02