superman1451 Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 Why or how does the metal burn in some compositions? or does it oxidize really fast to make color?
rocket Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 From what I under stand when a metal burns its being oxidized to its oxide which can be very exothermic reaction. When in a comp with an oxidizer the oxidizer release O2 which then speed up and makes the reaction hotter. The colours are from other metal salts in a comp like BaCO3.Oxidizers like Sr(NO3)2 and Ba(NO3)2 can give colours as well If I’m wrong correct me.
lnstantkarma Posted August 7, 2007 Posted August 7, 2007 When a metal(the fuel) burns it's oxidized which means it loses electrons and so its oxidation number is increased. Then the oxidizer (usually the one with oxygen in it) gains electrons so its oxidation number is reduced (because electrons make the number more negative). This exchange of electrons is what causes the reaction and how the other elements replace each other. Actually I think that might be something else to it but I don't want to get into it.Anyway when the electrons move around they release energy which shows up as light and heat. The light being the color we see. Also chlorine donors have a lot to do with how the color shows up but I have no idea how that works chemically.
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