Not Just Another Old Flame Feature Summary

Type:
From Physics Research
Title:
Not Just Another Old Flame
Description:
The photo shows two flames, one on Earth and one in space.

On Earth, the heat produced by the candle expands the nearby gas, and it makes the gas more buoyant, so it rises and produces the tall flame. Up in the Space Shuttle, it's quite different, since the Shuttle, the air inside, and the candle are in free fall; everything falls around Earth together, so there is no up or down created by gravity. In space, the flame spreads out equally in all directions, distributing the heat into a far larger volume than on Earth, and producing the cool blue flame.

To learn more, visit Not Just Another Old Flame.
Image:
image credit: NASA; <a href="http://www.compadre.org/Informal/images/features/flamespacelarge.jpg" target="_blank">larger image</a>
image credit: NASA; larger image
Image URL:
https://www.compadre.org/Informal/images/features/flamespacelarge.jpg
Featured:
April 12, 2011 - April 25, 2011