Fire Behavior, Ch 3

Front 1

NFPA 1001

Back 1

Standard for fire fighter professional qualifications.

Front 2

Matter

Back 2

Anything that occupies space and has mass.

Front 3

Exothermic Heat Reaction.

Back 3

Chemical reaction between two or more materials that changes the materials and produces heat, flames, and toxic smoke.
example. Fire.

Front 4

Endothermic Heat Reaction.

Back 4

Chemical reaction in which a substance absorbs heat energy.
Example. Converting water from a liquid to a gas requires the input of energy and is an endothermic reaction.

Front 5

Combustion

Back 5

An exothermic chemical reaction that is a self-sustaining process of rapid oxidation of a fuel, that produces heat and light.

Front 6

Fire Tetrahedron

Back 6

Model of the four elements/ conditions required to have a fire.
The four sides of the tetrahedron represent fuel, heat, oxygen, and chemical chain reaction.

Front 7

Potential Energy

Back 7

Stored energy possessed by an object that can be released in the future to perform work.

Front 8

Kinetic Energy.

Back 8

The energy possessed by a moving object.

Front 9

Pyrolysis

Back 9

The chemical decomposition of a substance through the action of heat.

Front 10

Piloted ignition

Back 10

Occurs when a mixture of fuel and oxygen encounter an external heat source with sufficient heat energy to start the combustion reaction.

Front 11

Autoignition

Back 11

Occurs without any external flame or spark to ignite the fuel gases or vapors.

Front 12

Autoignition temperature (AIT)

Back 12

The Temperature to which the surface of substance must be heated for ignition and self-sustained combustion to occur.

Front 13

Mechanical heat energy

Back 13

Heat generated by friction or compression.

Front 14

Heat of Compression

Back 14

Heat generated when a gas is compressed

Front 15

Conduction

Back 15

Physical flow or transfer of heat energy from one body to another through direct contact or an intervening medium from the point where the heat is produced to another location or from a region of high temperature to a region of low temperature.
Example: metal pipe is heated by a fire on one side of a wall, heat conducted through the pipe can ignite wooden framing components in the wall or nearby combustible on the other side of the wall.

Front 16

Convection

Back 16

Transfer of heat by the movement of heated fluids or gases, usually in an upward direction.
Example: Hot smoke or fire gases.

Front 17

Radiation

Back 17

The transmission or transfer of heat energy from one body to another body at a lower temperature through intervening space by electromagnetic waves such as infrared thermal waves, radio waves, or X-rays.

Front 18

Passive Agents

Back 18

Materials that absorb heat but do not participate actively in the combustion reaction.
Example: a well-watered shrub will be slower to ignite than one that is dehydrated.

Front 19

Reducing Agent (Fuel)

Back 19

The material or substance being oxidized or burned in the combustion process.

Front 20

Inorganic fuels

Back 20

fuels that do not contain carbon.
Example: Hydrogen or magnesium.

Front 21

Organic fuels

Back 21

Fuels that contain carbon.

Front 22

Vapor density

Back 22

The density of gases in relation to air.
Gases with a VD of less than 1 will rise, while more than 1 will sink.

Front 23

Flash Point

Back 23

Minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapors to form an ignitable mixture with air near the liquid's surface.

Front 24

Fire Point

Back 24

Temperature at which a liquid fuel produces sufficient vapors to support combustion once the fuel is ignited.
The fire point is usually a few degrees above the flash point.