04 February 2015

"Deflagration" demonstrated by "fire-breathing" using cornstarch



The video and the source link at fuckyeahfluiddynamics casually suggest "not to try this at home."  I would like to emphasize this point, not because of the fire risk, but because of the posibility of asphyxiation.  Especially in a child, a mouthful of cornstarch poses a potential risk to the airways if it is accidentally inhaled. 

btwDeflagration (Lat: de + flagrare, "to burn down") is a term describing subsonic combustion propagating through heat transfer; hot burning material heats the next layer of cold material and ignites it. Most "fire" found in daily life, from flames to explosions, is deflagration.

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