46 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATEDFIRE
Can Fire Burn
in or on Water?
A sticky, highly inflammable gel mixed with an auto-ignitable
material is a combination that makes fire burn even in water.A
ship silently approaches the fleet,
which is waiting to invade King’s
Landing. Only illuminated by the light of
the Moon, the attackers discover that there
is nobody aboard the ship. From the empty
ship’s hull, an explosive green liquid is
leaking – wildfire – and lots of it. From the
coast, a burning arrow is shot, causing a
tremendous wildfire explosion. According
to the series’ mythology, it will go on
burning under water and can only be
extinguished by large quantities of sand.
Chemists from the US Harvard
University in 1942 developed the real
version of wildfire: napalm. Used already
during World War II, it is particularly
associated with the Vietnam War in 1955-- Napalm is a fuel-containing gel
which burns at high temperatures, sticking
to the surface of buildings and humans.
Napalm originally consisted of a naphthene
powder and palmitic acid mixed with
petrol, hence the name.
Like the wildfire of the series, napalm can burn
both on and under water.HBO NORDICCLAUS LUNAU1 A napalm bombused during the Vietnam War such as the ones
includes highly inflammable, sticky
napalm, white phosphorus, and a
detonator.2 When the bomb detonatesis mixed with white phosphorus. The , napalm
latter is highly inflammable and auto-
ignites, when it gets in contact with
oxygen at temperatures above 30 °C.(^3) pools on water, burning for as long as The napalm plants itself just like oil
there is oxygen for the phosphorus. Napalm
can also burn under water, if oxygen, such
as in the shape of bubbles, is avaiblable.
OXYGEN NOURISHES THE FLAMES
Sticky, inflammable napalm and highly inflammable white phosphorus make
up an explosive combination, which can burn even under water.
WHITE
PHOSPHORUS
DETONATOR
NAPALM NAPALM POOL ON WATER
PHOSPHORUS
NAPALM UNDER WATER
NAPALM
EXPLOSION
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