1
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Uhm, excuse me.

2
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Pardon me.

3
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No, no no. Not up there.

4
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I'm down here.

5
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Yup.

6
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Hello!

7
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I am a scientist,

8
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and I've come to improve
your situation just a bit.

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See that fire over there?

10
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Have you ever really wondered
what the flames are, from that fire?

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I mean look at all of those colors.

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And you feel that heat. It's hot, right?

13
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Well gee, it must be torture
being around all these flames

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and not knowing what they are.

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Here, take a look at this cupcake.

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You see a flame
on top of this delicious looking cupcake?

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You do like cupcakes, don't you?

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Let's take a closer look, shall we?

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Fantastic!

20
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If we look at the flame
on top of this cupcake,

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we first notice a few things,

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like all the colors.

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At the bottom,
we have this blueish color.

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On the top,
it's more yellow, orange and reddish.

25
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Also, the flame is hot.

26
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Why is it so flaming hot?

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Well, to answer these questions,
you need to know something very important.

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You see, everything is made up
of tiny things called atoms.

29
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And these things are the building blocks
that make up everything!

30
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And they're really small.

31
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Smaller.

32
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Smaller!

33
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Even smaller!

34
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Hey, look, you can't even see them,
they're so small.

35
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Exactly!

36
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Anything you can think of
is made up of atoms.

37
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Yup, this air conditioner
is made up of atoms.

38
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This delicious popsicle
is made up of atoms.

39
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This ice water is made up of atoms.

40
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Everything is made up
of billions and billions of atoms.

41
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Now, this candle and flame are made up
of three kinds of atoms:

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carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

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The carbon
and the hydrogen are locked together

44
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to form the solid wax and wick.

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The oxygen is a gas all around us.

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Normally,
the oxygen doesn't do much to the candle

47
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It just bounces off of the surface,
not doing any real damage.

48
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But when we add heat,
the oxygen atoms go bananas!

49
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And they shake the wax, like crazy!

50
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Until finally,
with enough force, they snap apart.

51
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They leave the candle as a gas,

52
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where they mix with the oxygen.

53
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Uh-oh, I smell trouble.

54
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Well, the fancy science word
for all of this is

55
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pyrolysis.

56
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It is the first thing
that needs to happen to get a flame.

57
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It's when the fuel turns to a gas.

58
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Now, let's see what happens
when these hot gasses combine.

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(Announcer) Ladies and gentlemen,
in this corner,

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he was once a solid, now he's a gas!

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He's the fuel from the West!

62
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And in this corner,
not one, but two groups of oxygen

63
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Ready?

64
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React!

65
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Any time certain atoms get hit
hard enough,

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they spit out blue light.

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And because there are lots of atoms
getting hit hard

68
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and lots of atoms spitting out blue light,

69
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we get a blue flame.

70
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Here comes another science word. Ready?

71
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Chemiluminescence.

72
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I know, it's a big one. One more time.

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Chemiluminescence.

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It's when atoms shine light
when they rearrange.

75
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It's why flames are blue.

76
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Now, the blue light is not hot.

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Wait!

78
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But the blue flame is really hot!

79
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So if the blue light is not the hot part,

80
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then what does make a flame so hot?

81
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Well, remember our fuel atoms,

82
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and our oxygen atoms?

83
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They rearranged
to make new stuff,

84
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like water and carbon dioxide.

85
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And as they rearrange,
they snap together.

86
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And with each...

87
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(snapping sound)

88
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the new thing shakes like crazy!

89
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So when the rearranging is done,

90
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we have lots of new stuff,

91
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all shaking really fast!

92
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If we put something close
to those raging atoms,

93
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those atoms begin to shake
like crazy, too,

94
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like the atoms in our fingers,
and that's heat.

95
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This is called oxidation.

96
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It's when the oxygen atoms combine
with other atoms to make new stuff.

97
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It's why flames are so hot.

98
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All right then,

99
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why are most flames
yellow, orange and red?

100
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Well, remember our first reaction?

101
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We had one group of fuel atoms
and two groups of oxygen.

102
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They made a flame that was very hot

103
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and only blue.

104
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But watch what happens
if there's not enough oxygen

105
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and we take some away.

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(Announcer) Ladies and gentlemen,

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what happens
when there's not enough oxygen?

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(audience gasp)

109
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What's this?
A single carbon atom left all alone?

110
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It's okay, because all of his left-over
carbon friends come to join him,

111
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and they form large, black particles
we call soot.

112
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Okay, they're not so large.

113
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They're so small
we can't even see them.

114
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But to a single atom,
they are enormous!

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(Announcer) Enormous!

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I know what you're thinking.

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How do black particles make yellow flames?

118
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Well, let me show you.

119
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But first,
I need something big and black,

120
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like this pitch fork, for example.

121
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Excuse me, Sir, Your Evilness,

122
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could you please place your pitch fork
in those scorching flames?

123
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Thank you.

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Big black objects are like sponges
that soak up heat!

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They have to get rid of this energy,

126
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so they spit it out by glowing!

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The hotter they get,
the more brightly they glow!

128
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Now, the same thing happens
with our soot particles.

129
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They drink in heat
from all of those hot atoms.

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And they glow brighter
and brighter,

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until they look like this!

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And because there are millions
and millions of soot particles,

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all glowing hot,

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we get this yellow flame.

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This is called incandescence.

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It's when the soot particles glow
because they're hot.

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It's the reason why flames are yellow.

138
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Well, that's it. That's what flames are.

139
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I mean, who knew
cupcakes could be so much fun?

140
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Remember, first, the fuel loses mass
and turns into a gas.

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Before the next change is through,
atoms shine blue.

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When the process is complete,
it gives off heat.

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Extra carbon will grow red,
orange and yellow.

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Hey, those are just like the lyrics

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from that really awesome song
about flames.

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You know, the one that goes:

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♪ The fuel loses mass. ♪

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♪ It turns to gas. ♪

149
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♪ Before the next change is through, ♪

150
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♪ some atoms shine blue. ♪

151
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♪ When the process is complete, ♪

152
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♪ it gives off heat. ♪

153
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♪ Extra carbon will glow ♪

154
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♪ red, orange, yellow. ♪

155
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♪ The fuel loses mass. ♪

156
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♪ It turns to a gas. ♪

157
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♪ Before the next change is through, ♪

158
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♪ some atoms turn blue. ♪

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♪ When the process is complete, ♪

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♪ it gives off heat. ♪

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♪ Extra carbon will glow ♪

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♪ red, orange, yellow. ♪

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(chorus repeats)

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(vocal backing: Pyrolysis)

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(Chemiluminescence)

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(Oxidation)

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(Incandescence)

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(repeat)

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(song finishes)