Hypothesis

If I test multiple ways to light a fire, then the method using a ferro rod will be the easiest and most effective, because it is a reliable method that has been used effectively for many years. Furthermore, I also predict that the best tinder will be the cotton balls, because cotton fibres are fine and thin, reliable and easy to burn and obtain.

Question: What is the best way to start a fire without a lighter or matches? 

                                                                             

                                                                                Background Research                                       

 

                                                                                 

                                                                                    The Fire Triangle

Fire occurs when a chemical process called combustion takes place. Combustion transpires when heat paired with an oxidizer is able to ignite a fuel such as a tinder bundle. The fire triangle demonstrates how a fire needs an oxidizer, fuel and heat, in order to maintain itself. If any part of the fire triangle is removed, you will not be able to start or maintain a fire. 

An oxidizer is a substance that provides oxygen to the fuel, which is necessary for combustion to occur. I used KNO3 (potassium nitrate) in this project which is an oxdizer.

 

                                                                      The Four Main Fire Starting Methods 

Spark Method: Creating sparks to ignite a fuel is a very common fire starting method. It was used thousands of years ago, and is still common practice today.

Sun Method: Fuel can be ignited by magnifying the sun's rays into a hot beam of light.

Friction Method: Most friction fire methods usually involve using multiple pieces of wood. By vigorously rubbing wood together in the right way, embers are created.

Chemical Method: An advanced method of fire starting that involves mixing chemicals together in specified, measured ratios, so that combustion can occur.

 

                                                                                   Spark Fire Starting 

- a spark is a small, fiery particle that is most commonly produced from objects being bashed together; however, other things can also produce sparks.

- sparks can vary in size and amount of heat generated.

- sparks are heated particles, so naturally they can be used to start fires.

 

                                                                     Common Spark Fire Starting Methods

Ferro Rod: a ferro rod/ferrocerium rod is a fire starting tool that is made of a metal alloy. The alloy is made of iron, magnesium and other rare earth metals. When struck with a hard, shrap metal object, it sparks. 

Quartz and steel: a piece of steel, when rapidly struck against a sharpened piece of quartz can produce sparks. 

9V battery and steel: small sparks can be created by placing metal or aluminum foil over the positive and negative terminals on a 9V battery.

 

 

                                                                                   Friction Fire Starting 

Friction methods work by converting friction and speed into thermal energy (heat); very much like how heat is produced by rubbing your hands together. If done properly then an ember will ignite from the thermal energy being produced.

                                                             

                                                                      Common Friction Fire Starting Methods

Fire plow: this is a very simple fire starting method. Simply cut a groove in a softwood baseboard, and then plough the tip of a hardwood shaft up and down it. This creates sawdust, and then ignites it, creating an ember.

Hand drill: to perform this method make a hole in a hardwood baseboard, and start spinning a softwood stick in the hole. This creates sawdust and ignites it, creating an ember.   

Rudiger roll: This method requires two wood planks and an unravelled cotton ball. Simply cover the boards with ash, sawdust or rust and do the same to the cotton ball before rolling it back up. Next roll the cotton vigorously between the boards. This generates heat and ignites the cotton, converting it into an ember.

 

 

 

                                                                         Common Chemical Fire Starting Methods

Chemical fire starting methods work by mixing specific chemicals together in differing ratios. If done correctly, the mixture should combust on its own, without needing help from an outside source.

The following methods can be mixed together and self ignite:

Potassium Permanganate and glycerin mixed 2:1

Potassium Permanganate and sugar mixed 9:1

Sodium chlorate and sugar mixed 3:1  

Potassium chlorate and sugar mixed 3:1 

Pool chlorine and brake fluid mixed 1:1

Brake fluid and potassium permanganate mixed 1:1 

Sodium chlorate and glycerin mixed 1:1 

Potassium chlorate and glycerin mixed 1:1

 

 

                                                                                         Black Powder

75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur.

In this mixture the potassium nitrate acts as an oxidizer, while the charcoal and potassium act as a fuel source. Furthermore, because the mixture has an oxidizer in it, it requires no oxygen from the atmosphere.

 

 

                                                                                           Flash Powder

Flash powder is a pyrotechnic composition that consists of an oxidizer and fuel. Moreover, flash powders create a large amount of light and heat, making these powders effective for fire starting. In my project I tested two types of flash powders. The first one was a mixture of three parts zinc powder, and one part sulfur. In this mixture the zinc acts as a fuel and the sulfur an oxdizer. Secondly, I tested a mixture of five parts potassium nitrate, three parts aluminum powder and lastley, two parts sulfur. Overall, this mixture is not as effective as the first, simply because it is more complex and does not burn as fast.

Note: Most flash powders include a type of metal powder, for this allows for a very bright and often colored flame.  

 

 

 

                                                                         Steps to Constructing An Effective Fire

1.  A fire starting method: There are 4 main categories of fire starting methods: spark, chemical, sun and friction. 

2.  Fuel: In order to maintain and start a fire you need some sort of fuel. 

Tinder/fire starter: anything that has a low flash point, meaning that it only takes a spark or ember to ignite. You can enhance tinder via combustibles, such as gasoline, gunpowder,  aerosol, lighter fluid, etc. 

Kindling: used to grow flames (usually small, wooden sticks). 

Wood fuel: used to maintain fire. 

Other combustibles: gasoline, gunpowder,  aerosol and lighter fluid are examples of highly flammable liquids and gases that can be used for creating fires.  

3. Lastly, you will also need oxygen from the atmosphere, or from an oxidizer.

 

               

                                                                                         Enchanting Tinder

If you prefer, you can add oil products or any other coumbustbles to make a more powerful tinder. Moreover, products such as hairspray or petroleum jelly work great as tinder enhancers. Hairspray usally contains alcohol and almost 100% of the time aerosol. Both these products are flammble. 

   

    

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manipulated Variable: The use of different tinders, fuels, and fire starting techniques.

Responding Variable: The method that is the most versatile, effective and efficient.  The tinder that is the most flammable, and the tinder that will burn the longest.

Controlled Variable: All methods were tested in the same area and temperature range (-10°C to -23°C). Moreover, each tinder was also tested under the same conditions. The same amount of tinder was used each time.

                                                                                    Safety Precautions

Always be sure to wear appropriate safety glasses, fire reatardant clothing, and gloves when working with flammable materials. Also ensure that any long hair is tied back. Always work in an outdoor environment.                                       

                                                                               Materials For Making KNO3 

1. Two large mason jars. 

2. Two cold packs that contain cacium ammonia nitrate beads (do not use urea). 

3.  Sodium free salt (poatssium chloride).  

4.  Coffee filters. 

5.  100-300ml of water. 

6.  Hot plate or large pot.

7.  A plastic spoon.

                                                                               Making KNO3 (Poatssium Nitrate)

1. Mix 200 ml of calcium ammonia nitrate, obtained from cold packs, with 100 ml of water and stir until mostly dissolved.  

2. Next, filter the mixture through a coffee filter, so that the anti-caking agent (insoluble material) it contains is removed. 

3. Now you will add the filtered calcium ammonia nitrate to 150 ml of potassium chloride (sodium free salt). 

4. Next, stir the mixture over low heat (from a hot plate or pot filled with hot water) until completely dissolved (add more water if needed).

5. Now, freeze the solution until crystals of potassium nitrate appear (KNO3 crystals are long and spiky in appearance).  

6. Finally, extract the crystals, dry them and then grind them into a fine powder. This is potassium nitrate, a powerful oxidizer used in rocket fuel, explosives and black gunpowder.

 

How It Works: The potassium chloride is more reactive than the calcium ammonia nitrate, so this causes the separation and bonding of molecules, this includes the creation of potassium nitrate.  Potassium nitrate crystallizes out of liquids easily, so this is how extraction works. 

 

                                                                               Materials For Black Powder

1. KNO3

2. Dusting Sulfur (source of sulfur) 

3. Charcoal 

4. Motor and pestle 

 

                                                                                  Making Black Powder 

1. The recpie for black powder is 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal (basicley carbon) and 10% sulfur. 

2. Firstly, ensure that all ingredients are dry. Potassium nitrate is hydroscopic, so it needs to be moistureless before you proceed any further. If you're inclined to do so, then you can dry the KNO3 in an oven.

3. After all ingredients are dry, you must grind them up,  one at a time, using a morter and pestle, until they become a fine powder. You must keep the potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur separated from one another when grinding them up. 

4. Lastly, mix all ingredients together, maintaining a ratio of 75% poatssium nitrat,e 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur. 

 

In this mixture the potassium nitrate acts as an oxidizer, while the charcoal and potassium act as a fuel source. Furthermore, because the mixture has an oxidizer in it, it requires no oxygen from the atmosphere.

 

How to Make Black Powder: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow This website shows how to make black powder a more complex way that leads to aa higher quailty product. 

 

                                                                      Materials For Making Flash Powder 

1. Dusting Sulfur (Source of Sulfur). 

2. Pennies: American pennies work best, however, you can use Canadian pennies.

3. Metal file. 

4. KNO3 optional.

                                                                     

                                                                               Making Zinc Flash Powder

1. The recipe for this type of flash powder is 3 parts zinc powder, and 1 part sulfur If you want you can add a small amount of potassium nitrate to make the powder stronger. 

2.  To make the flash powder you will first need zinc powder, which can be acquried by simply filing down a couple of pennies.

3. Once zinc filings are acquired, grind them with a mortar and pestal untill you have a fine powder. 

4.  Lastly, mix 3 parts zinc powder and 1 part sulfur (Kno3 optional). This makes a powerful flash powder that produces a green flame.

 

                                                                          Materials For Aluminum Powder 

1. Aluminum Foil.

2. Mortar and pestle. 

3.  KNO3.

4. Sulfur.

 

                                                                          How to Make Aluminum Flash Powder  

1. This mixture is five parts potassium nitrate, three parts aluminum powder and ,lastly, two parts sulfur.

2. To make this flash powder, you first need to make aluminum powder. The simplest way to do this is by cutting and grinding aluminum foil into a really fine powder. 

3. The next step is to simply mix five parts potassium nitrate, three parts aluminum powder and lastly two parts sulfur, making sure to grind each ingredient separately and very fine.

 

 

                                                                                 Other Recipes With KNO3

KNO3 and sugar: mix 60% KNO3, 40% sugar and grind well. This mixture can also serve as a solid state rocket propellant. 

KNO3, sugar and charcoal: Mix all three ingredients at a 1:1:1 ratio, and grind well.

 

                                                                                         Procedure

1. Gather all materials (tinders, fire starting method etc.).  

2. With the designated materials, create the different types of fire starters (listed above). 

3. Test each fire starting method, tinder and fire starters (make sure to follow the variables). 

4. Right a conclusion. 

 

                                                                           Safety Precautions Reiterated

1. Wear fire retardant clothing, safety glasses and gloves. 

2. Never place black powder or any type of flash powder in a sealed container, because this will lead to an explosion.  

3. Always work in an outdoor environment, and away from anything highly flammable or combustible. 

4. Tie long hair back.

5. Perform at your own risk.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

  

 

 

                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                          Observations

- The most powerful tinder/fire starter was the zinc flash powder, which I found quite surprising because I thought the black powder would be the most powerful. 

- The only tinder/fire starter that worked with a friction ember were the cotton balls. 

- Very shockingly, black powder could not be ignited with a friction ember, despite it being quite unstable.

- The zinc flash powder burned the fastest and most aggressive. It also produced a green flame.

-  The dryer lint burned the longest overall.

- The pool chlorine and break fluid burned well and did not need tinder, since there was no spark or ember that needed to catch fire.

- The ferro rod was the best spark ignition method.

- The rudiger roll was the best friction ignition method.

- By far the cotton balls were the most versatile.

- The pool chlorine and brake fluid reaction was particularly resistant to water.

-  Dot 3 brake fluid performs better than Dot 4, and in some cases Dot 4 does not work at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table: Table - Google Slides

                                                                                      Analysis

Despite taking the longest, the most powerful fire starting method was the one that used brake fluid and pool chlorine. Temperature had very little effect on the reaction. It could be snowing, and the reaction can still work given time. Lastly, the best tinder were the cotton balls, because they were the easiest tinder to ignite, and the only tinder that worked across all three methods. 

Pool chlorine contains calcium hypochlorite, which breaks down and reacts with the polyethylene glycol in the brake fluid. This causes combustion.

Video science fair - Google Drive  This video shows the effects of 1 tbsp of pool chlorine and 1 tbsp of brake fluid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                            Conclusion

My hypothesis was partially correct. Overall, the cotton balls (even when not being the most powerful), were the best and most efficient tinders. On the other hand, the chemical method that used pool chlorine and brake fluid, outperformed the best spark method (ferro rod), making my hypothesis only partially correct.

                                                                                             Application

This project has shown and demonstrated that there are many ways to start a fire, and that some are better than others. Fire starting is an important skill that I believe everyone should know the basics of. Furthermore, I believe Outdoor Education (a popular option) should talk more about fire starting, and my project could provide useful information to all these parties.

Cotton balls serve as a powerful tinder and people often underestimate the true power and versatility of these simple balls of cotton. 

                                                                              Possible Sources Of Error

My project was a success and overall everything worked as expected. However, with that said, there could have been some possible sources of error that caused a minor change. 

1. The weather: when doing this project I tried to work in the same weather conditions, however, it is almost impossible to always work under the exact same atmospheric conditions. 

2. The amount of each tinder and fire starters: when doing this project, I tried to use the same amount of tinder and fire starter each time for every test. However, it is hard to use the same amount of tinder and fire starter each time, so this caused slight changes in burn rate and flame size. 

                                                                                               Videos 

Bing Videos This YouTube video explains how to make potassium nitrate with ammonia nitrate and potassium chloride. Overall, this video ended up being one of my main sources for making my own potassium nitrate, however, I did not use ammonia nitrate and instead substituted it with calcium ammonia nitrate. 

 

Bing Videos This YouTube video explains how to make potassium nitrate with calcium ammonia nitrate and potassium chloride. Moreover, this video ended up being one of my main sources for making my own potassium nitrate. 

 

Bing Videos  This YouTube video explains how to make black gunpowder from scratch. 

 

Bing Videos This YouTube video talks about zinc and sulfur flash powder. 

 

 

                                                                                                  Books 

SAS SURVIVAL HANDBOOK.pdf - Google Drive This is the PDF version of John "Loftey" Wiseman's SAS Survival Handbook. Overall this book was single handedly my biggest source of information (pages: 269-282). 

 

 

                                                                               

 

Thank you to my teacher Ms. Davis who provided guidance and assistance.