Discovery of Fire

Question 1

What is fire?

Answer 1

Combustion or burning, in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air. It produces light, heat and smoke.

Question 2

What is the Fire Triangle?

Answer 2

Oxygen - at least 15% in the surrounding atmosphere
❖ Fuel - any combustible material; plants, oil, etc.
❖ Heat - initial ignition ranging from 200 to 400
degrees Celsius depending on the fuel source and
oxygen content

Question 3

Why is Fire a discovery and not an invention?

Answer 3

Fire is a natural phenomenon predating

human beings.

Question 4

When was the earliest evidence of fire?

Answer 4

420 million years ago in the Silurian Period.

Question 5

Early applications of fire

Answer 5

Used to cook meat in order to increase protein intake.

Question 6

Reaction of Combustion

Answer 6

Fuel + O2 –> CO2+ H2O

Oxygen is a reactant

Question 7

Heat in medicine

Answer 7

Cauterization- uses an electric current to produce

enough heat to burn tissue & stop bleeding