How to Make Fire Balls! Really Cool!

Intro: How to Make Fire Balls! Really Cool!

Just be careful and have fun!!!

(update 7/23/09 ) Im so lazy and havent posted an instructable yet but some one did!!!

so CLICK HERE to saw the instructable!!!

Comments

[HerbertD1]

The tick is the boiling point of the burn-fluid. Alcohol has about 70°C you will feel very uncomfortable at 50°C. So lighter fluid is good, even better would be ether.

[EmilyS70]

Do you think whte gas would work?

[briannam1]

come on teahch my little broth thats smart

[elkhuntr]

dude i tried this 4 times and burnt myself every time. how do you not make it burn you.

[capnlatenight]

Squeeze out the extra rubbing alcohol and make sure your hands don't have any on them.

[Bob the dog]

I put one of these in a catapult i made and it was awesome!!!!!

[11rex11]

OK I'm tired of people saying that the blue part isn't the hottest part I'm a science teacher and i did this project for a class one day, anyway the fire temperatures go like this
Orange = coolest
Red = next coolest
Blue = next coolest (hotter than red or orange)
Green = next hottest (hotter than blue)
Any color In between blue and white pretty hot
WHITE = DON'T TOUCH ANY WHITE FIRE NO IM NOT TALKING ABOUT CLEAR FIR IM TALKING ABOUT WHITE IT IS HOT ENOUGH TO MELT STEEL WITHIN 4 SECONDS. the reason you can touch the bottom is because the fire burns up and plus the fumes from the lighter fuel is going up it is way less hotter down there because there is not a lot of flame down there

[biboNL]

gee, a 17-year old science teacher!
it's ok to tell people what you know, but you don't have to lie (unless you really are a 17-year old science teacher...)
anyway, here's some info on fire colors:

red:
-barely visible: about 500'C (975'F)
-Cherry-ish color, visible, but slightly dull: about 850'C(1550'F)
-Bright: about 1000'C (1850'F)

Orange:
-deep orange: about 1100'C(2010'F)
-clear orange: about  1200'C(2200'F)

blue and green are other types of combustion, usually giving off about the temperature of a white-ish flame (1350'C(2400'F)(most gas-based fires tend to give a blue flame, green flames are mostly made by adding fine copperdust to the fuel, though there are some materials that burn green.)

White:
-White-ish: about 1350'C(2400'F)
-Bright: about 1500'C(2700'F)
-Dazzling/roaring(the other white flames will probably roar too, but you will hear the difference): about 2000'C(3000'F)

the transfer from Celsius to Fahrenheit is not accurate, since i didn't use a tool to convert it.

anyway, the reason your hand doesn't burn is because the temperature the cloth gets at the bottom is around 100'C.
This sounds like alot, but the combination of a lack of heat conductors under the flame, combined with constantly moving the ball makes your hand stay cool.

Hope this helped.

[HeyJD]

Ok.... So many people have not stated the most basic and obvious thing. The burning temperature of cotton is really low...

[biboNL]

the cotton isn't burning, the fumes are. as soon as the lighter fluid runs out, the flame dies and your cotton will be in the same condition as before.

[HeyJD]

No..... The cotton always disappears with me! Every time I burn my cotton it get's smaller. So I can only use it once.

[biboNL]

that's odd, and you don't burn your hand? maybe it depends on the fuel. what kind of fuel are you using? zippo lighter fluid burns at a different rate/temperature than normal lighter fluid, for example, maybe that affects the cotton aswell.

[HeyJD]

Well it does hurt if I hold it in one spot... (I don't have zippo lighter fluid[I'm Australian])I'm using a lighter fluid which came in a small rectangular metal bottle.

[biboNL]

it's normal that it hurts when you don't move it, because there is no such thing as a 'cold flame', though many people here claim otherwise, because you move it around constantly, your hand won't burn. i don't0 know why your cotton burns out after one use, mine do tend to get slightly brown, but i can reuse them at least 4 or 5 times. maybe it's because i never let them burn out entirely, i just kill the flame by closing my hand... but it shouldn't burn the cotton, it's the same principle as the trick where you put petrol on some paper money, and let it burn, without actually burning the money, i've done that loads of times to win bets :P

[HeyJD]

Well I use cotton balls... Maybe you use cotton from a t-shirt? Or something else... Which may make a difference

[freakyqwerty]

That's your problem there, make it how it says and try again…

[iLikeCoolStuf]

Yes It helped

[The Rusted Workman]

heat rises upward and the cool air sinks downwards, this is why he isn't getting burnt, it is also why the flame goes upwards :P

[Virtuous]

You are correct but the reason you don't get burnt touching the blue part is also because the orange flame is more imperfect...like if your doing doing an experiment and heating a test tube the orange flame will blacken it the blue won't.

[hintss]

in other words, they don't get enough oxygen