Weather Experiments Part 3

The third experiment in my series of blog entries involves a fire syringe and small piece of cotton. The experiment is quick so concentrate on the bottom of the fire syringe.

Here is how it works. As air is compressed it warms up which is known as compressional warming. As the plunger is pushed down rapidly, the air inside the glass tube is quickly heated and reaches the ignition point of cotton which is around 410 F (210 C) causing the cotton to flash burn.

Check out the fourth entry in the series for one more fun experiment.