WSC 2025 Fifth Paragraph- Things Really Do Catch Fire

Q: Name two types of oxidation and examples.

A: Slow oxidation (rusting of iron, decay of organic material) and fast oxidation (combustion, explosions).

Q: Give real-world examples of oxidation.

A: Rusting of a bike, apple browning, burning wood.

Q: What is ignition?

A: The process of starting a fire or combustion reaction.

Q: What are the two types of ignition?

A: Piloted ignition (requires external flame or spark) and autoignition (ignites at a certain temperature without a flame).

Q: What is combustion?

A: A high-energy oxidation reaction producing heat, light, and gases.

Q: Differentiate complete and incomplete combustion.

A: Complete combustion produces CO₂ and H₂O with enough oxygen; incomplete produces CO and soot with limited oxygen.

Q: What is the flash point of a substance?

A: The lowest temperature at which it gives off enough vapor to ignite in the presence of a spark or flame.

Q: How does flash point differ from autoignition temperature?

A: Flash point needs an external flame; autoignition ignites without one.

Q: Give flash point examples for gasoline and cooking oil.

A: Gasoline: ~-45°C; Cooking oil: ~230°C.

Q: What is convection?

A: Transfer of heat through fluids caused by density differences.

Q: How does convection affect fire spread?

Hot air rises, bringing oxygen to flames and causing fire to spread upward.

Q: What is the fire triangle?

A: The three essential elements for fire: oxygen, heat, and fuel.

Q: What is the fire tetrahedron?

A: An expanded fire triangle that includes a chemical chain reaction as the fourth element.

Q: What four elements make up the fire tetrahedron?

A: Oxygen, heat, fuel, and chemical chain reaction.

Q: How do fire extinguishers like CO₂ work?

A: Removing oxygen, heat, or fuel interrupts the fire's combustion process (e.g., water removes heat).

Q: What is a flame?

A: The visible glowing part of a fire formed by hot gases emitting light.

Q: What does a blue flame indicate?

A: High temperature and complete combustion (e.g., gas stove).

A: They disrupt the chemical chain reaction in the fire tetrahedron.

Q: What does a yellow/orange flame indicate?

A: Incomplete combustion and presence of soot (e.g., candle flame).

Q: What is fuel in fire science?

A: Any substance that can burn when combined with oxygen.

Q: Name the types of fuels.

A: Solid (wood, paper, coal), liquid (gasoline, alcohol), gas (propane, methane).

Q: How can fuel removal prevent fire?

A: Without fuel, combustion cannot continue, so removing it stops the fire.

Q: How does a lighter work?

A: Uses butane gas ignited by a flint wheel or electronic spark.

Q: Name two types of lighters.

A: Disposable (e.g., Bic) and refillable (e.g., Zippo).

Q: What are advantages and disadvantages of lighters?

A: Advantages: Easy, portable; Disadvantages: Fuel runs out, weak in strong wind.

Q: How do matches ignite?

A: Coated stick ignites when struck against a rough surface.

Q: Difference between safety matches and strike-anywhere matches?

A: Safety matches need special striking surface; strike-anywhere can be struck on most rough surfaces.

Q: How do lenses start a fire?

A: Focus sunlight via refraction to generate heat and ignite tinder.

Q: What conditions are best for lens fire-starting?

A: Clear, sunny days and dry tinder.

Q: How does the hand drill method work?

A: Spinning a wooden spindle against a wooden base to create friction and heat.

Q: What are advantages and disadvantages of the hand drill method?

A: Advantages: No tools needed, works anywhere; Disadvantages: Requires skill and patience.

Q: What is a fire striker and how does it work?

A: A ferrocerium rod scraped with steel to create sparks.

What is ferrocerium rod?

A durable metal alloy that produces sparks when scraped with a harder surface.

Q: Advantages of fire strikers?

A: Work when wet, durable with thousands of strikes.

Q: How does flint & steel start fires?

A: Steel strikes flint rock to create sparks that ignite tinder.

Q: Historical use of flint & steel?

A: Used by Vikings, Indigenous cultures, explorers.

Q: What makes safety matches safer?

A: Require special red phosphorus striking surface to ignite, reducing accidental fires.

Q: How do fire-starting methods connect to history and culture?

A: Essential for survival, war, innovation throughout human history.

Q: What science concepts relate to fire-starting?

A: Heat transfer, friction, oxidation, chemical reactions.

Why was fire control significant for early humans?

A: It allowed cooking, warmth, protection from predators, and social development.

Q: What is the oldest undisputed evidence of controlled fire before the new discovery?

A: 300,000-400,000 years ago at Qesem Cave, Israel.

Q: What new discovery pushed back evidence of fire control to 1 million years ago?

A: Fire traces at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa, linked to Homo erectus.

Q: What types of evidence were found at Wonderwerk Cave indicating fire use?

A: Charred bones, ashed plants, and heated sediment, indicating onsite kindling.

Q: What is the cooking hypothesis by Richard Wrangham?

A: Homo erectus adapted to cooked food, reflected in smaller teeth and stomachs.

Who is Richard Wrangham?

An English anthropologist and primatologist.

What is Wonderwerk Cave?

An archaeological site, formed in dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills.

Q: What was Greek fire and why was it important?

Greek Fire - Byzantine Empire's Secret Weapon

Q: Who invented Greek fire?

A: Callinicus of Heliopolis, but the exact formula remains unknown.

Q: Why was Greek fire so devastating in naval battles?

It burned on water and caused physical and psychological damage.

Q: How was Greek fire deployed?

A: A powerful incendiary weapon crucial for Byzantine defense (7th-12th centuries).

Q: How did Ice Age artists use firelight creatively?

A: Flickering firelight animated stone carvings, making animals appear to move.

Q: Why has the recipe for Greek fire been lost?

A: It was kept secret by Byzantine emperors and family inventors; modern attempts to recreate it failed.

Q: What evidence supports intentional use of firelight in Ice Age art?

A: Heat damage and pink discoloration on 15,000-year-old limestone plaquettes.

A: Via ship-mounted siphons, handheld flamethrowers (cheirosiphons), and grenades.

Q: What cognitive effect helped artists choose their designs?

A: Pareidolia, the human tendency to see patterns and shapes in random forms.

Q: What social role might fire-lit art creation have played?

A: Communal, recreational, or spiritual activity during Ice Age life.

Q: What caused the deadly fireworks accident in Honolulu?

A: Community reluctance to report neighbors and smuggling through ports.

Q: What are challenges in enforcing fireworks laws in Hawaii?

A: A tipped bundle of aerial fireworks ignited nearby crates, causing explosions.

Q: Why is firework use culturally controversial in Hawaii?

A: Seen by some as a cultural tradition but increasingly dangerous due to powerful explosives.

Q: What measures have officials taken after the firework accident?

A: Stronger port controls, law enforcement, public amnesty for surrendering illegal fireworks.

Q: Who painted Magdalen with the Smoking Flame?

A: Georges de La Tour.

What is the main symbolism of Magdalen with the Smoking Flame?

The mirror symbolizes vanity, the skull symbolizes mortality, and the candlelight symbolizes spiritual enlightenment.

Q: What does Georges de La Tour's Magdalen with the Smoking Flame depict?

A: Mary Magdalen, a repentant prostitute, putting aside jewels and rich clothing to meditate on mortality while staring at a flickering flame.

Q: What dramatic event does Jan Griffier's Great Fire of London, 1666 represent?

A: The fire on the night of Tuesday, 4 September 1666, showing people fleeing and a woman despairing next to her baby.

Q: What historical event is depicted in Paul Sandby's Windsor Castle from the Lower Court on the Fifth of November—Fireworks (1776)?

A: The celebration of Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night), commemorating the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Q: What medium and techniques did Paul Sandby use in his 1776 Windsor Castle fireworks painting?

A: Aquatint with etching in brown on ivory laid paper.

Q: What does the red tone in Sandby's Windsor Castle painting symbolize?

A: The warmth of the bonfire and emphasis on the white plumes of smoke from fireworks.

Q: What major event does J.M.W. Turner's The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1834) depict?

A: The fire that consumed London's Houses of Parliament on October 16, 1834.

Q: How did Turner portray the fire in his painting of the Houses of Parliament?

A: He magnified the flames to express human helplessness against nature's destructive power using brilliant colors and near-abstraction.

Q: Who is depicted in Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's The Moon in Smoke (1886), and what is the scene?

A: Firefighters battling a fire under an orange sky with smoke partially obscuring the moon.

Q: What is unique about the firefighter's outfit in The Moon in Smoke by Yoshitoshi?

A: He wears an indigo coat with decorative sashiko stitching and a headgear marked for his firefighting squad (Marugumi).

Q: What art style and genre characterize Alberto Burri's Red Plastic (1961)?

A: Spatialism; abstract art.

Q: What artistic techniques did Yves Klein explore in his Fire Paintings (1957-1961)?

A: Use of fire, natural elements, sponge sculptures, and gold; performance art; and immaterial art concepts.

Q: What is Yves Klein known as and what was his "Blue Period"?

A: Known as "Yves le Monochrome"; the Blue Period focused on ultramarine blue as the purest expression of color.

Q: What was Yves Klein's concept of "immaterial pictorial zones"?

A: Selling empty gallery space in exchange for gold, exploring the idea of art beyond physical form.

Q: What was the significance of Yves Klein's public "Anthropometries" performances?

A: He pioneered performance art by using human bodies as living brushes to create art.

Q: When did Yves Klein pass away and what legacy did he leave?

A: He died in 1962 at age 34, leaving a revolutionary body of work that challenged traditional art forms.

What is Joseph Haydn's Fire Symphony known for?

A: It's an early symphony (c. 1760) with a lively, dramatic character, fast energetic tempo suggesting flickering flames, showing early orchestral innovation.

Q: What opera and scene features Richard Wagner's "Magic Fire Music"?

A: From Die Walküre (part of the Ring Cycle), where Wotan surrounds Brünnhilde with a ring of fire.

Q: What musical techniques does Wagner use in "Magic Fire Music"?

A: Romantic grand orchestration and leitmotifs representing fire and magic.

Q: Why is Wagner's "Magic Fire Music" important?

A: It's a prime example of program music and influenced epic film music orchestration.

Q: What mythological story is Jean Sibelius's The Origin of Fire based on?

A: Finnish mythology (Kalevala), about stealing fire from the heavens.

Q: What musical features characterize Sibelius's The Origin of Fire?

A: Dramatic choral work with voices and orchestra creating a mystical, powerful atmosphere.

Q: Why does The Origin of Fire by Sibelius matter?

A: It showcases nationalism in music and mythological storytelling through sound.

Q: What is the story behind Igor Stravinsky's Suite from The Firebird?

A: A magical firebird helps defeat an evil sorcerer, based on Russian folklore.

Q: What musical contrasts are present in Stravinsky's Firebird suite?

A: Shimmering strings for fire effects, contrasting dark (evil) and light (magic) themes.

Q: What is the significance of Stravinsky's Firebird?

A: It was a breakthrough piece blending folk themes with modern orchestration.

Q: What is Sergei Prokofiev's Winter Bonfire about?

A: A Soviet-era programmatic work depicting childhood and winter fires.

Q: What are the musical qualities of Prokofiev's Winter Bonfire.

A: Warm nostalgic melodies and contrast between cold and warmth in orchestration.

Q: What subtle political nod does Debussy's Feux d'artifice contain?

A: It ends with a faint quote of the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise."

Q: Describe the musical traits of Knussen's Flourish with Fireworks.

A: Short (~4 minutes), energetic, dazzling brass and percussion, dense harmonies, shifting rhythms.

What is oxidation?

A chemical reaction where a substance combines with oxygen, often releasing energy.

Name two types of oxidation and examples.

Slow oxidation (rusting of iron, decay of organic material) and fast oxidation (combustion, explosions).

Give real-world examples of oxidation.

Rusting of a bike, apple browning, burning wood.

What is ignition?

The process of starting a fire or combustion reaction.

What are the two types of ignition?

Piloted ignition (requires external flame or spark) and autoignition (ignites at a certain temperature without a flame).

What is combustion?

A high-energy oxidation reaction producing heat, light, and gases.

Differentiate complete and incomplete combustion.

Complete combustion produces CO₂ and H₂O with enough oxygen; incomplete produces CO and soot with limited oxygen.

What is the flash point of a substance?

The lowest temperature at which it gives off enough vapor to ignite in the presence of a spark or flame.

How does flash point differ from autoignition temperature?

Flash point needs an external flame; autoignition ignites without one.