Is fire a living organism?

Question

It's for a science essay, I know it's not life, just a chemical reaction, but it bears almost all the qualities of life. How can I explain that it isn't life, but it still bears almost all the qualities?

Answer 1

Fire is just the release of light and energy (heat) from a chemical reaction.

It doesn't really reproduce. It just grows by starting the same chemical reaction on a different. material. The heat released from the chemical reaction is enough to overcome the activation energy to start the reaction.

Answer 2

Fire doesn't have a metabolism and can't reproduce

Answer 3

There are 7 properties something has to possess before it is considered "life":

[1] Homeostasis (regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state). Fire does not perform this - the same fire can be hotter or colder, depending on external conditions.

[2] Organization (being composed of one or more cells). Fire is not cellular.

[3] Metabolism (consumption of energy by converting nonliving material into cellular components and decomposing organic matter). Fire performs the second part, but does not build-up materials.

[4] Growth (maintaining a higher rate of growth than of decay). Fire will grow given enough fuel, so it does perform this.

[5] Evolution (changing in characteristics over time). Fire *might* do this - burning differently depending on the different fuels, for example.

[6] Responsiveness (reacting to external stimuli). Fire does not do this.

[7] Reproduction (producing more of the same type). Fire does this, spreading to other sources of fuel.

So fire meets criteria 4, 5, and 7; it partially meets criterion 3; and it fails to meet criteria 1, 2, and 6.

Since it does not meet all the criteria, it is not "life".