Why is fire the opposite of water?

Question

i know it is usually like that, and fire can evaporate water after a while. but if u had the same amount of water and fire- water would defiantly beat fire. right? what do you think?

Answer 1

That's a really cool question because I never thought of that. If you think about it if you have enough water it can put out fire, but if you have enough fire it can make water evaporate.. thats a good question. but now that i think about it if you pour enough water on fire it willl evaporate but the fire will be put out too.

Answer 2

This raises an interesting point. A couple of thousand years ago philosophers thought the world was made of four elements; earth, air, fire and water. Furthermore these elements were the result of two of four properties; hot and cold, and wet and dry. Earth was cold and dry. Air was hot and wet. Fire was hot and dry. And water was cold and wet. So fire and water were considered opposites at one point.

Answer 3

Well fire would have to be really hot to evaporate water and water can put out fires. Well i don't really get either.

Answer 4

You are correct that water is more potent than fire. They may be considered opposites simply because fire is destructive and water is necessary for life. However, if you think about it, the other way around is also true. Water is destructive and fire is necessary for life.

Too much or too little of either is bad... REALLY REALLY bad.

However, there is no such thing as "the same ammount" of water and fire. Fire is an emittence of light and heat due to a chemical reaction- it has no matter and can not be comparatively substantiated to water- which is a molecular substance.