I have always wondered what state of matter fire is.

Question

it isnt a solid and it can be argued that it isnt a liquid or gas either. So what exactly is it?

Answer 1

Fire is the active reation.  Fire is a chemical reaction.  Fuel + Oxygen + Heat  

Answer 2

It is plasma which is a combination of high energy ions and electrons.

Answer 3

Fire is the heat and light energy given off by the rapid oxidation of a fuel. I think the best explanation is from How Stuff Works:

"Fire isn't matter at all. It's a visible, tangible side effect of matter changing form -- it's one part of a chemical reaction."

http://science.howstuffworks.com/fire1.h...

Answer 4

If my memory is not failing. Fire cannot have a state of matter as it is not matter, fire is energy. It is the result of combustion and you see light and heat being produced, both are energy. So there cannot be a state of matter for fire as is is not matter it is energy.

Answer 5

gas

Answer 6

See: What exactly is fire?

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/0211...

Fire's atoms have mass, but fire itself is just a chemical reaction.

http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/as...

("Fire almost always occurs when a fuel such as gas, wood or paper is put in contact with oxygen at a high enough temperature. When this happens, oxygen atoms (mostly from the air) and carbon atoms (from the fuel) are able to break free and bond together to form molecules such as CO2.  By doing so, they release energy in the form of heat, adn light that you can see.  ....  So fire is a process, a chemical reaction, between atoms. ....")

I haven't really given much thought to the nature of fire, but the flame itself must have to do with rapidly engaged ions, atoms, and molecules.  I would suspect that a flame might be a high-entropy state of matter, and there's probably an electromagnetic component to it, as well as a quantum effect.  There's likely to be a very rapid exothermic  excitation of atoms releasing and adsorbing of photons.

Answer 7

well a fire is a chemical reaction (with oxygen and the wood, or whatever you are burning), so oxygen is a gas and you can burn liquids, gasses, or solids, but the fire itself is just energy (light and heat)

Answer 8

http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryf...

Answer 9

Flames are a mix of hot gas, plasma, which is a mix of ions and electrons and hot solid particles.  If there aren't any solid particles of soot, the flame is almost invisible, like an alcohol flame or a bunsen with the maximum amount of air admitted.  If you close the air intake, the almost invisible blue flame starts to flicker and glow yellow, because some of the gas is only partly burnt and forms soot particles.  When you burn wood or coal, the flames you see are mostly the burning gases from the wood.

Answer 10

plasma

Answer 11

In a fire the atoms of the burning gases are gaining heat energy. This heat energy causes electron in the atoms to move from low energy subshells to high energy subshells for a very brief instance. When the electrons return to their low energy subshells they give off the extra energy as light and it is this light that you're seeing. Therefore fire should really be described as a process rather than a thing. A similar thing happens when you see anything but the energy usually comes from light hitting the object.