The Street Chemist - Part 21

Nov. 8, 2004
An often-misunderstood physical characteristic associated with flammable liquids is ignition temperature. The definition of ignition temperature is "the minimum temperature to which a material must be heated to cause autoignition without an ignition source."

An often-misunderstood physical characteristic associated with flammable liquids is ignition temperature. The definition of ignition temperature is "the minimum temperature to which a material must be heated to cause autoignition without an ignition source."

An often-misunderstood physical characteristic associated with flammable liquids is ignition temperature. The definition of ignition temperature (also known as autoignition temperature) is "the minimum temperature to which a material must be heated to cause autoignition without an ignition source." In other words, the material autoignites by being heated to its ignition temperature.

For example, consider a pan of cooking oil on a stove. Cooking oils are animal or vegetable oils. They are combustible liquids with high boiling points and flash points. If the heat is turned up too high on a stove with a pan of cooking oil, the oil may catch fire.

Many kitchen fires occur because of cooking oils or grease being overheated. The reason for this is ignition temperature. Liquids that have high boiling and flash points have low ignition temperatures. Corn oil, commonly used as cooking oil, has an ignition temperature of 460

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