FIRE!

1. DR.
IFFIC:
FIRE!

2. Hello
and
welcome
to
our
second
lecture.
Last
:me,
we
reviewed
the
four
fundamental
forces
of
the
universe
and
sorted
out
the
roman:c
life
of
protons
and
electrons.
Dmitri
Alekseyevich,
what
ques:ons
have
arrived
from
the
clamoring
masses
of
adulatory
knowledge
seekers?
We
have
a
ques:on
from
an
individual
purpor:ng
to
be
named
“Jimmy,”
who
asks,
“Dr.
Iffic,
what
exactly
is
fire?”

3. NOT
“JIMMY”
AT
ALL.
“Jimmy,”
eh?
A
likely
story.
Very
well,
“Jimmy.”
The
nature
of
fire
is
not
quite
as
tripped-­‐out
crazy
as
you
may
imagine,
but
in
order
to
understand
fire,
you
must
first
understand
heat.
And
heat,
in
a
word,
is
jiggling.
Jiggling?

4. JIGGLING,
Dmitri
Alekseyevich.
Pure
and
simple.
Do
you
mean
to
say
that
if
I
jiggle
this
nonbranded
toaster
pastry,
it
will
become
warm
and
delicious?
Well,
it
is
already
delicious.
But
the
heat
of
the
nonbranded
toaster
pastry
is
not
determined
by
the
jiggling
of
the
en:re
pastry.
It
is
determined
by
the
jiggling
of
each
and
every
individual
molecule
within
the
pastry.
That
is
what
heat
energy
is
–
the
jiggling
of
molecules.

5. And
molecules
are
:ny
lile
bits
of
something,
is
that
right?
More
or
less.
Molecules
are
collec:ons
of
atoms
that
are
stuck
together
very
:ghtly
because
of
what
their
electrons
are
doing.
And
molecules
are
always
jiggling
back
and
forth
to
some
degree.
The
jiggling
is
so
small
that
we
can’t
see
it.
But
we
can
sense
it,
and
observe
it,
as
heat.
Hot
molecules
are
jiggling
fast.
Cold
molecules
are
jiggling
slower.
MOLECULE
atom
atom
atom
atom
atom
Cold
=
slow
Hot
=
fast

6. It
is
jiggling
already,
Dmitri
Alekseyevich.
It
is
at
room
temperature,
which
requires
a
certain
amount
of
jiggling.
If
you
put
it
in
the
freezer,
it
would
jiggle
slower,
but
there
would
s:ll
be
some
jiggling
going
on.
In
theory,
if
your
pastry
stopped
jiggling
altogether,
it
would
be
at
absolute
zero
temperature
–
but
it’s
impossible
to
stop
all
the
jiggling
in
a
molecule.
Incredible
jiggling
Intense
jiggling
Moderate
jiggling
Very
lile
jiggling
Absolutely
no
jiggling
It’s
strange
to
think
that
my
pastry
will
jiggle
once
I
toast
it.

7. The
cells
in
your
body
can’t
operate
correctly
when
they’re
jiggling
too
fast.
And
when
cells
can’t
operate
correctly,
they
die.
So
when
your
nerves
sense
that
the
jiggling
is
geang
to
dangerous
levels,
they
send
a
message
to
your
brain
saying,
HOOLABALOOLA!
GET
YOUR
HAND
OFF
THAT
HOT
THING,
YOU
CELL-­‐KILLING
IMBECILE!
The
fact
that
heat
is
jiggling
doesn’t
mean
it’s
no
big
deal
–
too
much
jiggling,
or
not
enough
jiggling,
is
very
dangerous
for
living
things.
If
heat
is
just
jiggling,
why
does
it
hurt
to
touch
something
hot?

8. For
example,
fire,
indeed.
Fire
will
jiggle
you
to
a
crisp
before
you
can
say,
HOOLABALOOLA!
And
what
use
will
your
nonbranded
toaster
pastry
be
to
you
then?
For
example,
fire.

9. Fire
is
actually
gas
that
is
jiggling
so
fast
that
it
glows.
Jiggling
can
make
something
glow?
So
what
IS
fire?

10. Yes
indeed.
You
see,
the
jiggling
energy
that
is
heat
does
not
stay
in
one
place.
It
has
a
tendency
to
spread
out
as
much
as
possible.
One
way
it
spreads
out
is
when
molecules
touch
each
other.
The
faster-­‐jiggling,
hoer
molecules
transfer
some
of
their
jiggling
energy
to
the
slower-­‐jiggling,
colder
molecules,
un:l
everything
is
jiggling
the
same
amount.
That
makes
sense.

11. Also,
molecules
can
reduce
their
jiggling
energy
by
shoo:ng
out
a
photon,
or
absorb
a
photon
and
transform
it
into
jiggling
energy.

12. Well,
essen:ally
it
is,
although
it
acts
like
a
wave
too,
which
is
one
of
the
more
tripped-­‐out
crazy
aspects
of
science.
So
super-­‐hot
things
start
shoo:ng
out
photons?
OK,
that’s
a
lile
weird.
Isn’t
a
photon
just
a
:ny
lile
par:cle
of
light?
Not
just
super-­‐hot
things,
Dmitri
Alekseyevich.
You
and
your
nonbranded
toaster
pastry
are
shoo:ng
out
photons
right
now,
and
absorbing
photons
that
got
shot
out
from
other
things.

13. But
I’m
not
glowing!
Nor
is
my
nonbranded
toaster
pastry!
Remember,
Dmitri
Alekseyevich,
not
all
photons
are
visible
to
our
eyes.
Radio
waves,
microwaves,
and
gamma
rays
are
all
made
of
photons,
but
we
can’t
see
them,
even
though
we
can
use
them
to
transmit
informa:on,
cook
frozen
burritos,
and
turn
people
into
the
Hulk.
Because
photons
behave
like
waves,
they
have
frequencies,
and
different
frequencies
create
different
forms
of
radia:on.
Radio
Waves
Microwaves
Gamma
Rays

14. Think
of
the
strings
on
a
guitar.
If
you
play
them
at
one
set
of
frequencies,
you
get
Mary
Had
a
Lile
Lamb.

15. Similarly,
while
photons
at
one
frequency
produce
a
beam
of
yellow
light,
at
a
different
frequency
they
produce
microwaves.
whereas
if
you
play
them
at
another
set
of
frequencies,
you
get
the
latest
hit
by
the
Icelandic
death
metal
band
Sküllmelter.

16. They
are
at
the
infrared
frequency,
which
is
the
frequency
of
most
heat-­‐related
photons,
and
which
is
invisible
to
us,
unless
we
are
commandos
with
super
cool
thermal
imaging
goggles.
OK,
so
why
can
we
see
fire?
So
what
frequency
are
the
heat-­‐related
photons
coming
out
of
me
and
my
nonbranded
toaster
pastry?

17. Fire
is
made
of
gas
that
is
so
superhot
that
it
is
also
spiang
out
photons
that
we
can
see.
When
burnable
stuff
gets
hot
enough,
its
molecules
jiggle
so
fast
that
they
fly
apart
into
plain
old
atoms.
For
example,
wood
is
made
of
organic
molecules
that
include
carbon,
oxygen,
and
hydrogen.
Here’s
a
diagram
that
shows
where
the
atoms
are
and
how
they
are
bonded
together.
C
C
O
H
H
H
H
C
C
H
lots
more
stuff
lots
more
stuff
When
these
molecules
fly
apart,
the
carbon
atoms
interact
with
the
oxygen
molecules
in
the
air
to
form
carbon
dioxide.
C
O
O
C
C
O
H
H
H
H
C
O
O

18. And
when
carbon
atoms
join
with
oxygen
molecules
to
make
carbon
dioxide,
it
creates
a
tremendous
extra
kick
of
jiggling
heat
energy.
So
the
superhot
carbon
dioxide
molecules
shoot
out
all
kinds
of
photons,
including
red,
yellow,
or
blue
ones
that
we
can
see.
They
also
float
upwards,
because
hot
gases
tend
to
float
on
top
of
cool
gases.
But
as
they
float,
they
cool
down.
Prey
soon
they
cool
down
enough
so
that
they
are
no
longer
shoo:ng
out
visible
photons,
just
the
invisible
infrared
ones
that
everything
shoots
out.
C
O
O
C
O
O
C
O
O
C
O
O
C
O
O

19. It’s
not
really
jumping.
The
superhot
glowing
gas
is
so
hot
that
if
another
chunk
of
burnable
stuff
gets
too
close,
its
own
carbon
molecules
will
heat
up,
fly
apart,
and
start
making
their
own
superhot
glowing
gas.
So
how
can
fire
jump
from
one
burning
thing
to
another
if
it’s
just
gas?
Including
my
nonbranded
toaster
pastry.
Correct.
C
C
O
H
H
H
H
C
C
H
lots
more
stuff
lots
more
stuff
C
O
O
C
O
O
C
C
O
H
H
H
H
C
O
O
C
O
O

20. Correct
in
every
respect.
Now
let
us
bombard
your
nonbranded
toaster
pastry
with
photons
un:l
it
jiggles
at
a
more
delicious
rate.
So,
to
recap:
fire
is
superhot
glowing
gas,
heat
is
jiggling,
and
my
nonbranded
toaster
pastry
and
I
are
constantly
shoo:ng
out
and
absorbing
invisible
photons.