combustion: Quick Facts

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Did You Know?

There is no scientific evidence for or proven cases of spontaneous human combustion, in which a person randomly catches on fire.
Spontaneous combustion can occur with substances such as oily rags.

Photos and Videos

Engraving of Antoine Lavoisier in eighteenth-century attire observing a laboratory experiment with glassware and scientific equipment on a table.

Engraving of Sir Humphrey Davy, shown from the waist up wearing a double-breasted coat and cravat, based on a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence.

A lit Bunsen burner with a visible flame stands on a black laboratory countertop, with lab equipment blurred in the background.

explosion limits

Diagram of a burning candle showing labeled stages in the combustion process, including the solid wax, melted wax, burning wick, different flame regions, unburned and cooled carbon particles, and the hottest part of the flame.

Bunsen burner flame

Close-up view of an automobile's internal-combustion engine with visible intake manifold, hoses, and various engine components.

Boeing Delta IV Medium+ rocket lifting off from a launch pad amid flames and smoke.

The science behind striking a match

New York City skyline tinted orange from wildfire smoke.

Understanding chemical reactions through combustion

How a candle flame burns

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Topics

smoke explosion limit ash ignition soot heat of combustion catalytic combustion detonation explosion fire electrochemical reaction ion-exchange reaction photochemical reaction geothermal energy wind power solar energy steam power electric power tidal power nuclear energy

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Key People

Portrait of French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, shown in formal 18th-century attire with a white wig and ruffled cravat, looking slightly to his left.

Antoine Lavoisier

French chemist

Guericke, engraving by C. Galle, 1649, after a portrait by Anselmus von Hulle

Otto von Guericke

Prussian physicist, engineer, and philosopher

Johann Joachim Becher, detail from an engraving

Johann Joachim Becher

German scientist

Electric power lines against sunset (grid, power, wires, electrical, electricity)

Energy & Fossil Fuels

Double exposure of science laboratory test tubes with bokeh and chemical reaction

Types of Chemical Reactions