Combustion Science Summary

The key principles of combustion explain everything from candles to climate change:

• The fire triangle — fuel, oxygen, and heat must all be present; remove one and the fire dies.
• Complete combustion produces CO2 and water; incomplete combustion produces toxic CO and soot.
• Flame color is a clue: blue means a clean burn, yellow means soot and incomplete combustion.
• Spontaneous combustion happens when slow oxidation builds heat faster than it escapes, as in oily rags.