What kind of flame is recommended for heating?

[Mint Royce]

What kind of flame is recommended for heating, luminous or non-luminous? Why?

[Loosehead]

hot?!

[ursula62]

sounds like science homework!

[brachiopod]

A luminous flame (on a bunsen) is the orange flame you get with the air hole closed. It is a relatively cold, sooty flame (due to incomplete combustion) and will coat your glassware (test tubes, flasks etc) with a layer of black soot that will impress your science technician no end, as he/she will then have to scrub the bloody stuff off.

A non-luminous flame (sometimes called a "roaring flame") mixes air with the gas via the collar and produces a hot flame with complete combustion. You will be able to see the blue cone which is the 'surface of combustion'.
The tip of this cone is the hottest part of the flame. If the contents of your test tube etc are heating up too quickly - TURN THE GAS DOWN AT THE GAS TAP your gas doesn't have to be full on. Don't just close the collar and heat it with an orange flame !!!

[brachiopod]

Jesus, I didn't realise that you've already asked this question (or variations of it) five bleeding times already.

Didn't you pay attention in your "Introduction to Science equipment" lesson?

[Peter Pedant]

OK mintie - I agree with Brachiopod - this sounds like someone too idle to read Chapter 1 of his book....HOWEVER....

If you look at the famous cine-film of the Zeppelin going up in flames as it docks in the US, the flames are clearly well sort of yellowish (on the black and white film) and being a hydrogen balloon, they should be bluish and therefore invisible....ask your science teacher what the reason is.....[no-one noticed this, for about sixty years]

[stevie21]

Peter, for those of us who don't have science teqchers, why is that?

[Peter Pedant]

Oh the beeb prog was good -I recollect being glued to it, and so were all my nerdie engineer frenz

The prog starts with the film and the paradox of the flame being the wrong colour, then analyses the film and points out that you can see the covering catching fire, rather than billowing gas. The flame front travels quite slowly - but that in itself is not proof of anything.

Then after a bit - the prog is an hour - they go out to the docking ground and dig up this and that. and hold something up and say - ha! this is the covering!

The covering is then analysed and does not tally with the plans! It has been painted with - I think an iron filing solution. They say to make it anti-static ! [What raw metal iron filings? Of course the thing went whoooop!] [and with a yellow flame, the only question being what took it so long?] I mean it could be Al - but aluminium doesnt burn with an obvious yellow flame.

So basically the Z has been converted into a time bomb in order to make it lighning proof

The then then (free trip to Germany and cut to document centre with long german name - at least 20 letters] they uncover the original Z plans - and....find a secret report saying in 1932 or whenever, "it seems likely that the explosion was caused by the iron filing antistatic mixture that was lately painted on......" in German of course. Since they werent going to build another one there didnt seem to be a reason to publicise it.

Prog ends with everyone looking absolutely thunderstruck.

[no limits]

NON LUMINOUS because it is hotter, the blue falme is always hot

[wa]

what kind of flame is recommended for heating?