i think that heating up a wooden log would always make it burn and not melt. BUT if you had a way of removing all the oxygen from around and in the wood, then it would have a melting point!
I think liquefaction of the earth after earthquakes is pretty amazing – but works differently. This happens because under the surface of the soil, the earthquake shakes up tiny water droplets within the loosely packed dirt and causes the overlying ground to become liquid – that’s why you see some buildings sink into the ground! then ground then solidifies again, trapping the building in the ground. Cool.
Kate has summed it up: since ‘burning’ is combining with oxygen, something can only ‘burn’ if there is oxygen around.
Most things, including rocks, will become liquids if the temperature, pressure, and other surrounding conditions are right.
What’s also interesting is that not everything is either a “normal” solid, liquid, or a gas. There is an everyday example of this: liquid crystals used in your TV, computer monitor, or mobile phone display (LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display). If you think about it, “liquid crystal” is a strange word: because you’d think that crystals are solid!
Hi leelee1997
i think that heating up a wooden log would always make it burn and not melt. BUT if you had a way of removing all the oxygen from around and in the wood, then it would have a melting point!
I think liquefaction of the earth after earthquakes is pretty amazing – but works differently. This happens because under the surface of the soil, the earthquake shakes up tiny water droplets within the loosely packed dirt and causes the overlying ground to become liquid – that’s why you see some buildings sink into the ground! then ground then solidifies again, trapping the building in the ground. Cool.
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Hi leelee1997,
Kate has summed it up: since ‘burning’ is combining with oxygen, something can only ‘burn’ if there is oxygen around.
Most things, including rocks, will become liquids if the temperature, pressure, and other surrounding conditions are right.
What’s also interesting is that not everything is either a “normal” solid, liquid, or a gas. There is an everyday example of this: liquid crystals used in your TV, computer monitor, or mobile phone display (LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display). If you think about it, “liquid crystal” is a strange word: because you’d think that crystals are solid!
0