• Question: What would happen if you lit a match while in space? If anything

    Asked by aoifeomara to Arlene, Colin, David, Eugene, Paul on 21 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Paul Higgins

      Paul Higgins answered on 21 Nov 2012:

      Yeah, you can’t light a match without oxygen. And there definitely isn’t enough oxygen in space. But supposedly they lit a match on the international space station, and the fire burns in a sphere because there is no gravity, meaning heat doesn’t rise. So, you don’t get that normal tear drop shape of a flame.

    • Photo: David McKeown

      David McKeown answered on 22 Nov 2012:

      That’s really cool. Why is everything so much better without gravity? !

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