Proof : oxygen is necessary for combustion

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HELLO EVERYONE
WELL EVERYONE HAS READ THAT OXYGEN IS VERY NECESSARY FOR COMBUSTION.
BUT HAS EVERYONE TRIED TO PROVE IT BY YOURSELF???

THIS THING WAS TICKLING ME FROM A LONG TIME SO I DECIDED TO KNOW WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT…

SO HERE I PERFORMED A SMALL EXPERIMENT TO GET THE ANSWER OF MY QUESTION…

APPARATUS:

  1. 2 DISPOSAL GLASS
  2. A MATCH BOX
  3. A CANDLE
  4. 1 OR 2 POUCHES OF ENO

AIM: TO PROOF OXYGEN IS NECESSARY FOR COMBUSTION.

PROCEDURE:
1 Take some water in a cup.
2 Now light a candle.
3 Keep the burning candle above the cup containing water.

4 Now add the eno in the other cup containing water.
When eno is added to water , it reacts and gives out Carbon Dioxide.

5 Now again light the candle and keep it still above the cup containing eno.

  • Observation *
    1 When the candle is above the cup containing simple water it continues to burn as it is having a continuous supply of Oxygen.

2 When the candle is above the cup containing eno it’s does not burn any more .It is so because the reaction between eno and water emits out Carbon Dioxide and it cuts off the supply of oxygen and the candle down not burn anymore.

So, here we proved that Oxygen is very necessary for combustion

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You need to open public access for the link

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Hi Mohitash,

Glad that you have tested and proven your hypothesis. You have also very clearly stated your observations below.

But I need some clarification. As I see from our observation, Carbon dioxide was emitted and the candle is put off. All it can tell is carbon dioxide does not support combustion. How can our evidence prove that oxygen is necessary for combustion? :thinking: :thinking:

I guess you see my confusion :confused:. Presence of carbon dioxide implies, absence of not just oxygen, but many other gases that are normally there in the air (like nitrogen), right!?

Eagerly waiting for your response.

-DP

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By the way @vishu00932 , Magnesium can combust even in pure Carbon dioxide as the following experiment demonstrates:

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Wow, that’s a revelation for me! :open_mouth: Thanks for this @singh

I think the finer distinction here should be about burning. Mohitash, very carefully uses combustion here. I wonder, is all ‘burning’ ‘combustion’?:thinking::thinking: What about burning things like sun etc? Excited to think about this; this might lead to a fundamental understanding of heat.

And in this case, the burning :fire::fire: question is:
How is the burning of candle different from the burning of magnesium?

@vishu00932, can you think of any other material burning (instead of a candle) in your experiment? Further, in connection to our my previous concern, how can we conclusively prove that oxygen is necessary for combustion?

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