Breathing FIRE With Different Powders HD

I. Introduction: I’ve always been interested in fire. I have seen professionals breath fire many times. They used a fuel called white gas, which is highly flammable and can be very dangerous if used improperly. So what would be the best fuel for someone without experience to safely attempt fire breathing? Here are the fuels I will try: cornstarch, powdered sugar, boric acid, talcum powder, flour, and coffee creamer.(maybe a mix) II. Question: What household powder creates the biggest fireball? III. Research: These powder explosions are called combustible dust, and are a real safety hazard in factories. They are usually made of metals or organic materials. Most of these powders are not flammable on their own. They become flammable when widely dispersed into the air. This happens because there is much more oxygen surrounding the individual dust particles. Certain oils can also be used for “safe” fire breathing such as: olive oil, mineral oil, and vegetable oil. Microwaving oil thins it out so it can be dispersed more easily; making a bigger flame. Cornstarch is actually used in putting out fires, but it MUST be wet. It is VERY effective. Cornstarch is used in making ooblek, which is a fun “slime” that is commonly used in kid’s experiments. For a huge effect you could put the powder in a potato gun or cannon. Mythbusters did something like this but with an air cannon and creamer and had a massive explosion. It is common for factories that produce dust to have explosions. Occasionally farm silos holding flour can explode. When experimenting yourself, there is a chance that it could blow back in your face, so don’t do it on a windy day. IV. Hypothesis: I think that non-dairy creamer and powdered sugar will make the biggest fireball. V. Procedure: 1. Gather all materials. 2. Create a chart on Power Point with seven rows (for each powder) and six columns (for powder, size, taste, texture, random notes, and overall score). 3. Make a torch by wrapping cloth around a stick and tying it with a square knot, then soaking it in 90% rubbing alcohol. 4.Lay everything out on the table in the backyard. 5. Set up camera with tripod parallel from where you will be. 6. Light the torch. 7. Take a spoonful of each powder (except boric acid, which is poisonous) and blow it out into the torch making a dust cloud. 8. Do this three times for each powder to obtain the best results. 9. Create the blowgun by attaching a 2’ PVC pipe to a PVC cuppling, then tape a marshmallow roasting fork to the pipe, and wrapping that in cloth as well. 10. Repeat steps 7 and 8 but instead of doing it with a your mouth do it with the blowgun(using boric acid). 11. Record results on the chart and check the footage. 12. Add additional notes to the chart. 13. Clean up. VI. Materials: • Cornstarch • Powdered sugar • Coffee Mate non-dairy creamer • Gold Bond Talcum powder • Bleached flour • Boric acid (roach killer) • Torch -Stick or small wooden rod -Cotton cloth • Blowgu