Which Kind of Wood Burns Slower?

Difficulty
Time Required	Short (2-5 days)
Safety	Adult supervision required.

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Abstract

Do you ever go camping with your family and roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire? If you want your campfire to burn long into the evening, what is the best wood to use? Do research on the necessary conditions/materials to sustain a fire and on the properties of different types of wood. Which properties do you think will be most important for determining how fast the wood burns? For example, how do you think density would be related to burning rate? Why? Measure the density and burning rate of equal-sized samples of different types of wood. For controlled burning conditions, you can either use a torch (with adult supervision) for a specified amount of time (weigh the samples before and after to determine burn rate), or place the wood samples over an evenly-spread bed of white-hot charcoal briquets (time the samples to determine burn rate). (Morgan, 2004; Johansen, 2005; Kelly, 2005)

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MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "Which Kind of Wood Burns Slower?" Science Buddies. Science Buddies, 28 July 2017. Web. 26 Apr. 2018 <https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/MatlSci_p026/materials-science/which-kind-of-wood-burns-slower>

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2017, July 28). Which Kind of Wood Burns Slower?. Retrieved April 26, 2018 from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/MatlSci_p026/materials-science/which-kind-of-wood-burns-slower

Last edit date: 2017-07-28

Bibliography

Johansen, B.R., 2005. "The Flame Game: Which Kind of Wood Burns Faster?" California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed April 26, 2006] http://cssf.usc.edu/History/2005/Projects/J1112.pdf.
Kelly, L.E., 2005. "Does Density Affect a Wood's Combustion Rate?" California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed April 26, 2006] http://cssf.usc.edu/History/2005/Projects/J1118.pdf.
Morgan, D.W., 2004. "Which Wood Burns the Longest?" California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed April 26, 2006] http://cssf.usc.edu/History/2004/Projects/J1129.pdf.

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Which Kind of Wood Burns Slower? *

Abstract