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What happens to flamables at a high temperature without air?

Example: if you have a piece of paper or wood in a vacuum (no oxygen) and heated it up hot enough, would it melt? Does it matter if the hot material contained any oxygen in the molecules?

Update:

But would paper melt if you heated it up hot enough without oxygen?

5 Answers

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  • Lv 7
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Complex substances such as paper and wood do not melt. If there is no oxygen present for the combustion reaction, they simply decompose when heated to high temperatures. This is known as destructive distillation. Substances produced by this decomposition are usually simple organic molecules such as acetic acid and methanol.

  • 1 decade ago

    One example of a flammable material that is normally quite hot are the transformers on power polls(the metal cylinders on power polls). They are full of oil and are very hot because of the electricity flowing through them. They do not burn because there is no oxygen in them. If they get a leak they can blowup.

    Paper is a pretty complex substance. Portions of it may melt at high temperatures but it would probably undergo some other chemical reactions other than combustion before very much of it melted.

  • 1 decade ago

    Nothing Happens to the flamables because they dont have air to fuel a fire, And it wouldnt melt and no it doesnt matter unless it was wet before hand

  • 1 decade ago

    It will go out it needs oxygen heat and fuel if one is gone it goes out

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  • 1 decade ago

    it couldn't burn there wold be no oxygen for it it ignite and start burning.

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