Why can water put out fire?

Answer 1

Water puts out fires because it cools the fuel below the temperature needed to sustain the fire. Fire needs fuel, oxygen and heat to burn, and that's the basic fire triangle. Break any leg, and the fire will go out.

Answer 2

actually it sometimes isn't if you have a grease fire for instance, but that would be because it smothers the oxygen and fire needs oxygen, heat (which it is also taking away) and fuel

Answer:Water has two main factors to put out fire.

• The water when applied to a very hot fire changes to steam, this steam will prevent the air getting to the fuel thus putting out the fire.
• The water also cools the fuel to below the ignition point thus putting out the fire.

The whole fire thing is best thought of as the fire triangle: three things you must have for fire.

• Ignition (also known as heat)
• Fuel (something to burn)
• Air (or oxygen )

If you take away or prevent one thing the fire stops

Answer 3

Answer 1It cools the material that is burning below its combustion temperature.

Answer 2

It lowers the amount of two necessary components of combustion: ignition source (through absorbing large amounts of energy and preventing it lighting further fuel) and oxygen (by displacing it from the fuel).

Answer 3

The main reason for the fire is the oxygen. Fire get stimulated due to the presence of oxygen. The reason for that is water cut the contact between fire and the oxygen and as a result of this fire gets extinguished. Not all kinds of fire get extinguished by water. Example for substance lighter than water e.g. petrol fire cannot be stopped. It will flow with water and will lead to more vigorous condition.

Answer 4

A fire needs three things: oxygen, a type of gasoline, and a heat source. Water (H2O) and water having more hydrogen than oxygen because you can't breath under water. The water takes away the oxygen. I hope I didn't over or under explain it.

A fire needs three things to perpetuate itself:

• fuel
• oxygen
• a net return on heat energy to foster the further combustion of fuel.

The source of oxygen is the air which is 1/5 oxygen. Water is hydrogen already oxidized so there is no more energy to be had from having it oxidize further. It can therefore act as a barrier between the fuel and its supply of airborne oxygen. This is not true of any metal that is capable of stealing the oxygen from the water eg. all alkaline metals, some alkaline earth metals, and especially Aluminum.

The most fire retarding property of water however is its ability to absorb copious amounts of heat. Water has a very high heat capacity and will steal all heat from a fire so there is no return on heat energy to perpetuate the fire.

Answer 5

The primary purpose of putting water on a fire is to remove the heat. Liquid water is turned into steam when it comes into contact with hot materials, thus removing the heat. If enough water is applied, and the material is porous, the water may increase the ignition temperature of the materials, making it less likely to burn.

Water also prevents the fuel coming into contact with airborne oxygen which is essential for burning.

Water cannot be used for extinguishing fires involving flammable liquids; the density of water would permit the oil or grease to float to the surface and continue burning and spread. Water cannot be used on electrical fires, as a general rule.

Answer 6

Water does not put out a fire by removing oxygen. The main mechanism is by reducing heat. However, with a dense deluge of water, oxygen may be restricted to a degree but it is along with cooling/heat removal that the fire is put out. Water does not burn, so the fuel content of the fire is also diluted.

Answer 7

Water can extinguish fire because it absorbs heat from the fire, lowering the temperature of the flames below their ignition point. Additionally, water can also smother the fire by covering the fuel source and cutting off the supply of oxygen needed for combustion.

Answer 8

Fire needs oxygen from the air just like we do in order for it to still be there. If you put water on fire, that suffocates it and it goes out.

Answer 9

water removes fuel and heat from the fire triangle