Fire
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Sad_Pin_1429
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Fire
I've heard it said that we don't have a good understanding of fire. Some explanations focus on the chemistry and others focus on the physics, but they aren't really compatible with each other (at least that's the impression I got). Does RS provide a different way of looking at (or thinking about) fire?
Re: Fire
People often say we do not fully understand fire because chemistry and physics give different stories. Chemistry calls it a rapid oxidation reaction that releases energy; physics calls it hot, glowing gas emitting light. Both are correct, but they describe opposite sides of the same event.
In the Reciprocal System (RS), all phenomena are forms of motion. Matter, heat, and radiation are not separate substances but different phases of motion in space and time. From this standpoint, fire is the zone where rotational motion (matter) is released and converted into translational motion (radiation). The chemical reaction frees that motion, and the visible flame marks the region where it approaches the condition of radiation.
Rather than two unrelated processes, RS treats fire as a single, continuous motion conversion -- the transition where matter's internal motion is transformed into the emission of heat and light.
Matter and motion as the same entity
In Nothing But Motion (Chs. 1-3), Dewey Larson defines all physical structure as motion -- combinations of space-time progression (scalar motion) and rotational displacement (structure). Matter is rotational motion; radiation is translational motion of unit magnitude.
Thermal motion and heat
Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 5 "Heat") describes thermal energy as a vibrational component of scalar motion added to the molecular structure. Temperature corresponds to the equilibrium level of this vibrational component, not to random kinetic agitation as in classical physics. In this framework, heating a substance increases the vibrational component of its motion, loosening molecular bindings. When those bindings weaken sufficiently, part of the rotational motion is released and expressed as radiation to restore equilibrium.
Phases of matter and increasing vibration
As Larson explains in Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 6 "Phases of Matter"), progressive increases in the vibrational component of motion carry material substances through successive states -- solid, liquid, gaseous, and ultimately ionized conditions. Each phase change occurs when the vibrational speed becomes great enough to overcome a corresponding level of rotational cohesion. A flame represents this upper condition of matter where cohesion is nearly lost and ionization begins, marking the onset of radiation emission.
Thermal equilibrium and emission
In Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 7 "Thermal Equilibrium"), Larson shows that radiation emission is the means by which a system restores balance when the vibrational component of motion rises toward unity. When local vibrational speeds exceed the equilibrium value, radiation of unit magnitude is emitted until balance is re-established. Fire thus represents a localized region where this radiative balancing process is continuous and visible.
The thermal spectrum
The distribution of vibrational magnitudes near unity determines the range of frequencies emitted as radiation. As described in Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 8 "The Thermal Spectrum"), higher temperatures correspond to larger portions of matter approaching the unit limit, yielding higher-frequency emission. The color and brightness of a flame therefore reflect the distribution of near-unit vibrational motions within the reacting material.
Chemical reactions and energy release
Nothing But Motion (Ch. 18 "Simple Compounds") treats molecular bonding as the combination of atomic rotational displacements into stable orientations. Chemical reactions alter those orientations; exothermic reactions release excess rotational motion into vibrational form. Combustion is thus the large-scale instance of that conversion: oxidation rearranges molecular rotations so that part of their rotational motion is freed and expressed as heat.
The flame as a transition region
At a sufficiently high level of thermal motion, part of the rotational displacement is released and expressed as translational motion of unit magnitude. This constitutes a transition from the material sector -- where motion is rotational and less than unity -- into the condition of radiation at the natural reference speed. In this state, the released motion takes the form of photons, which are units of translational motion of unit magnitude. The visible flame is the boundary region in which matter approaches this unit-speed condition, producing ionization and the emission of photons as rotational motion is converted into translational motion. (Nothing But Motion, Chs. 6-7; The Structure of the Physical Universe, 1959)
Why this unifies chemistry and physics
The "chemical" and "physical" descriptions are simply different perspectives on the same continuum of motion:
That said, Larson did not analyze oxidation chemistry (oxygen, CO2 formation, etc.) or give equations or empirical predictions for flame temperature, emission spectra, or reaction kinetics. He used "combustion" analogies only in cosmology (stellar energy release), not in chemical contexts. But the theoretical foundation is there. (Basic Properties of Matter, Chs. 5-8; Nothing But Motion, Ch. 18)
In the Reciprocal System (RS), all phenomena are forms of motion. Matter, heat, and radiation are not separate substances but different phases of motion in space and time. From this standpoint, fire is the zone where rotational motion (matter) is released and converted into translational motion (radiation). The chemical reaction frees that motion, and the visible flame marks the region where it approaches the condition of radiation.
Rather than two unrelated processes, RS treats fire as a single, continuous motion conversion -- the transition where matter's internal motion is transformed into the emission of heat and light.
Matter and motion as the same entity
In Nothing But Motion (Chs. 1-3), Dewey Larson defines all physical structure as motion -- combinations of space-time progression (scalar motion) and rotational displacement (structure). Matter is rotational motion; radiation is translational motion of unit magnitude.
Thermal motion and heat
Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 5 "Heat") describes thermal energy as a vibrational component of scalar motion added to the molecular structure. Temperature corresponds to the equilibrium level of this vibrational component, not to random kinetic agitation as in classical physics. In this framework, heating a substance increases the vibrational component of its motion, loosening molecular bindings. When those bindings weaken sufficiently, part of the rotational motion is released and expressed as radiation to restore equilibrium.
Phases of matter and increasing vibration
As Larson explains in Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 6 "Phases of Matter"), progressive increases in the vibrational component of motion carry material substances through successive states -- solid, liquid, gaseous, and ultimately ionized conditions. Each phase change occurs when the vibrational speed becomes great enough to overcome a corresponding level of rotational cohesion. A flame represents this upper condition of matter where cohesion is nearly lost and ionization begins, marking the onset of radiation emission.
Thermal equilibrium and emission
In Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 7 "Thermal Equilibrium"), Larson shows that radiation emission is the means by which a system restores balance when the vibrational component of motion rises toward unity. When local vibrational speeds exceed the equilibrium value, radiation of unit magnitude is emitted until balance is re-established. Fire thus represents a localized region where this radiative balancing process is continuous and visible.
The thermal spectrum
The distribution of vibrational magnitudes near unity determines the range of frequencies emitted as radiation. As described in Basic Properties of Matter (Ch. 8 "The Thermal Spectrum"), higher temperatures correspond to larger portions of matter approaching the unit limit, yielding higher-frequency emission. The color and brightness of a flame therefore reflect the distribution of near-unit vibrational motions within the reacting material.
Chemical reactions and energy release
Nothing But Motion (Ch. 18 "Simple Compounds") treats molecular bonding as the combination of atomic rotational displacements into stable orientations. Chemical reactions alter those orientations; exothermic reactions release excess rotational motion into vibrational form. Combustion is thus the large-scale instance of that conversion: oxidation rearranges molecular rotations so that part of their rotational motion is freed and expressed as heat.
The flame as a transition region
At a sufficiently high level of thermal motion, part of the rotational displacement is released and expressed as translational motion of unit magnitude. This constitutes a transition from the material sector -- where motion is rotational and less than unity -- into the condition of radiation at the natural reference speed. In this state, the released motion takes the form of photons, which are units of translational motion of unit magnitude. The visible flame is the boundary region in which matter approaches this unit-speed condition, producing ionization and the emission of photons as rotational motion is converted into translational motion. (Nothing But Motion, Chs. 6-7; The Structure of the Physical Universe, 1959)
Why this unifies chemistry and physics
The "chemical" and "physical" descriptions are simply different perspectives on the same continuum of motion:
- Chemistry: changes in rotational binding (how atoms rearrange and release motion).
- Physics: propagation of the released motion as heat and light.
That said, Larson did not analyze oxidation chemistry (oxygen, CO2 formation, etc.) or give equations or empirical predictions for flame temperature, emission spectra, or reaction kinetics. He used "combustion" analogies only in cosmology (stellar energy release), not in chemical contexts. But the theoretical foundation is there. (Basic Properties of Matter, Chs. 5-8; Nothing But Motion, Ch. 18)