Combustion is an exothermic reaction requiring oxygen.
So say you put a piece of wood in a hard vacuum and heated it a whole lot.
Would it melt?
Wood is made up of lots of cellulose, which is very long chains of polymers. A liquid is defined as a collection of mobile molecules - in other words they move around easily. Now, long chains of things can't move around very easily. Also, there are hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups in the polymers that hold everything together. In other words, you'd have to put so much energy into breaking up these bonds and the long chains that before the wood melted it would decompose and no longer be wood. [ 01-21-2003: Message edited by: Black Mage ]
quote:
Lashanna had this to say about Tron:
I know you can melt those cheap pencils, that look like old school no.2 pencils, but are shinier, and more flexible...
Eagle Pencils, or whatever.
They're mostly plastic, and good jesus yes they melt. Fast, with lots of black smoke.
Not perfect combustion, no sir.
quote:
Verily, Black Mage doth proclaim:
In other words, you'd have to put so much energy into breaking up these bonds and the long chains that before the wood melted it would decompose and no longer be wood.
Well shit. There go my plans for a mixed drink using liquid wood.
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Lashanna wrote this then went back to looking for porn:
I know you can melt those cheap pencils, that look like old school no.2 pencils, but are shinier, and more flexible...
They don't really melt when you wave them in front of your face, they just look like it! 
quote:
Rodent King had this to say about pies:
They don't really melt when you wave them in front of your face, they just look like it!
No really, I've melted them with lighters.
Of course acid could "melt" wood (though "slag" is probably a better verb). But it does it by altering the chemical composition, at which point it's not wood.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
Liam got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
No really, I've melted them with lighters.
You can come close to melting them just by holding them under your armpit for a while.
quote:There is still hope.
Maradon XP stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
Well shit. There go my plans for a mixed drink using liquid wood.
quote:
Maradon XP stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
You can come close to melting them just by holding them under your armpit for a while.
have you stopped wearing deodorant or something?
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
Liam had this to say about dark elf butts:
Eagle Pencils, or whatever.They're mostly plastic, and good jesus yes they melt. Fast, with lots of black smoke.
Not perfect combustion, no sir.
They're cool to melt, and bug people with.
quote:
Liam had this to say about dark elf butts:
Eagle Pencils, or whatever.They're mostly plastic, and good jesus yes they melt. Fast, with lots of black smoke.
Not perfect combustion, no sir.
They're cool to melt, and bug people with.
quote:
Liam spewed forth this undeniable truth:
Eagle Pencils, or whatever.They're mostly plastic, and good jesus yes they melt. Fast, with lots of black smoke.
Not perfect combustion, no sir.
They're cool to melt, and bug people with.
quote:They're cool to melt, and bug people with.
How.... Liam.... uughhhhhh:
Eagle Pencils, or whatever.They're mostly plastic, and good jesus yes they melt. Fast, with lots of black smoke.
Not perfect combustion, no sir.
Yes, I know you'll have it editted by the time I post this. But I'm a douche, so, you know. *gestures helplessly*
You may not be able to melt wood, but you can burn concrete (with a ridiculously hot flame, but yes.) Of course, at such temperatures, you start producing NOX, which is a pretty nasty gas. But who am I to talk? I hate chemistry!
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
[ 01-21-2003: Message edited by: Lashanna ]
quote:To be honest, I was expecting more scratching and biting. Animal fury.
Lashanna had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
You are all a bunch of retards.
quote:To be honest, I was expecting more scratching and biting. Animal fury.[/QB][/QUOTE]
Black Mage was naked while typing this:
[QUOTE]Lashanna had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
[qb]You are all a bunch of retards.
?
Dear god...that poor computer
quote:
Lashanna thought about the meaning of life:
[xIMG]http://www.WintersRoar.com/~rosaline/compaq2.jpg[/IMG]?
[ 01-21-2003: Message edited by: Black Mage ]
quote:
Lashanna had this to say about Knight Rider:
Captain Cuddles, bring us up to speed!
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
Super Kagrama enlisted the help of an infinite number of monkeys to write:
Captain Cuddles, bring us up to speed!
Kagrama wins hehehehe...
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
This one time, at Black Mage camp:
[xIMG]http://schmode.net/tigercub036.jpg[/IMG][/QB]
?
...
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
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And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Lashanna was all like:
I love that part of 8-Bit, ^_^
Wanna grab a pizza?
quote:
D had this to say about dark elf butts:
Wanna grab a pizza?
Sure...
...Can we get extra pepperonis and cheese?
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
A sleep deprived Maradon XP stammered:So say you put a piece of wood in a hard vacuum and heated it a whole lot.
Would it melt?
It would probably turn to charcole, assumeing you continued to pull off the gasses released by heated wood. Its a process called coking, or burn without oxygen. Make coked coal and use it in powerplants, lots more BTUs than soft coal (some of you may remember the discussion of how many BUTs in a coal train, but thats beside the point)
Anyway, a process similar to that is exactally how you make charcoal. You would use a sealed container with an airlock similar to the ones used for brewing, and heat the hole thing up. The non-carbon substances heated and rises off, but dont burn. the carbon is left and you have charcoal. If you take a soda can, pack it full of wood and stick it in a camp fire, you'll see that stuff coming out.
quote:
http://newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem99/chem99366.htm http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Chemistry/Original/c00027d.html
I think he wants people to stop bickering about this and play with his monkey.
quote:
diadem stopped beating up furries long enough to write:
this is from my lurker friend who made the aim bot...
http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Chemistry/Original/c00027d.html
quote:Hell no. I'd never know, or want to know anything like that. I'll leave that for the lab rats, or the freaks who get a kick off this stuff.
This insanity brought to you by Tarquinn:
Damn, for a moment I thought BM was REALLY smart.
quote:
Black Mage was listening to Cher while typing:
[QUOTE]This insanity brought to you by Tarquinn:
[qb]Hell no. I'd never know, or want to know anything like that. I'll leave that for the lab rats, or the freaks who get a kick off this stuff.
You stupid preppy losers. [ 01-21-2003: Message edited by: Lenny ]
quote:lol ur nerd~
Lenny wrote this then went back to looking for porn:
I think science is kinda neat.You stupid preppy losers.
*Shoves Lenny into a locker and walks away, laughing!*
quote:
Black Mage had this to say about pies:
Hell no. I'd never know, or want to know anything like that. I'll leave that for the lab rats, or the freaks who get a kick off this stuff.
Bah, I was about give a less refined scientific explanation myself.
But given my bad memory and bad specialized (biology, chemistry) english vocabulary it probably would have sounded very stupid.
quote:
Tarquinn tried to explain what he learned some years ago...:
"Wood heated in a vacuum will turn into pudding, chocoloate pudding.Pudding gooood, Napster baaaad!"
Whew, your post saved me from looking stupid. [ 01-21-2003: Message edited by: Tarquinn ]
Thinking about your posts
(and billing you for it) since 2001
quote:
Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
Depends if it's dry wood or green wood. Green wood could "melt" just like your brain cells can melt (at 108 Degrees Farenheit, btw). But you'd have to modify conditions perfectly. Dead wood is exactly what BM said.
..
No green wood would not melt. The water inside would boil off, and depending on quickly it was brought up to temp and the size of the wood, it would explode like a tater in a microwave would.
