Fire inside of an Orange

A combustion reaction gives off energy, usually in the form of heat and light.  The reaction itself includes oxygen combining with another compound to form water, carbon dioxide, and other products.

A campfire is an example of wood and oxygen combining to create ash, smoke, and other gases. Here’s the reaction for the burning of methane (CH₄) which gives carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O):

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CH₄ + 2 O₂ –> CO₂ + 2 H₂O

Ok – so here are the steps from the video.

• First, cut off a strip of citrus fruit. It can be an orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, or grapefruit.
• Do you see those little holes in the peel? They have oil inside of them.
• Light a candle.
• Pinch the peel between your fingers, with peel side toward the flame. You want to squirt a tiny amount of oil from the peel or rind toward the flame

The oil from citrus fruits is very flammable. When you squeeze the oil out of the fruit peel it vaporizes enough that you can flash your flame. The flash point (temp that the oil will ignite) of the oil is 122 deg F. A candle flame is about 2600 degree F. (If it doesn’t work, heat up the peel side over the flame for a few seconds first, to get those tiny pockets of oil heated up and ready to burst.)

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