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Trees can explode when struck by lightning. [3] [15] [16] [17] The strong electric current is carried mostly by the water-conducting sapwood below the bark, heating it up and boiling the water. The pressure of the steam can make the trunk burst. [3] [17] This happens especially with trees whose trunks are already dying or rotting.
A large compost pile can spontaneously combust if improperly managed. Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high temperatures) and finally, autoignition. [1]
If unchecked, spontaneous combustion fires in particular tend to burn deeper into the waste mass, resulting in deep seated fires. In the U.S. 40% of landfill fires are attributed to arson. [1] Landfill fires are especially dangerous as they can emit dangerous fumes from the combustion of the wide range of materials contained within the landfill.
The burning of a solid material may appear to lose weight if the mass of combustion gases (such as carbon dioxide and water vapor) are not taken into account. The original mass of flammable material and the mass of the oxygen consumed (typically from the surrounding air) equals the mass of the flame products (ash, water, carbon dioxide, and ...
For some species of pine, such as Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), European black pine (Pinus nigra) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), the effects of fire can be antagonistic: if moderate, it helps pine cone bursting, seed dispersion and the cleaning of the underwoods; if intense, it destroys these resinous trees.
The autoignition temperature or self-ignition temperature, often called spontaneous ignition temperature or minimum ignition temperature (or shortly ignition temperature) and formerly also known as kindling point, of a substance is the lowest temperature at which it spontaneously ignites in a normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or spark. [1]
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Photosynthesis, the process that allows plants to convert carbon dioxide and water to sugar and oxygen, is an endothermic process: plants absorb radiant energy from the sun and use it in an endothermic, otherwise non-spontaneous process. The chemical energy stored can be freed by the inverse (spontaneous) process: combustion of sugar, which ...