One of the best videos you've ever done. Keep your tree's stump submerged at all times, or it'll seal itself and won't be able to absorb water very well.
I think that in a dry tree, the burnable chemicals are flammable, not combustible, but I'd need to find the flashpoint. (I'm thinking coniferous resins like pine sap.) If it is 100°C or lower, it's flammable. If a flashpoint is less than 140°C but above 100°C, then it's combustible. If a flashpoint is over 140°C , the material is industrially considered to be non-flammable or non-combustible.
As per borax mechanism, it's a degreaser: simply thins down the resin and lowers viscosity of the sap, allowing for increase in capillary effects. This forces water into the tree as well as out.
@@garywhite2050 yeah, I ain't buying it: if you leave your tree for over a week unattended, it doesn't really matter if the fire spreads in 20 seconds or a minute.
We were also a bit surprised to find that even after a week of being dry, the tree that had been in plain water still didn't burn. Goes to show how effective of a fireproofing method regular old water is for a Christmas tree.
My Mom does candles on her tree instead of electric lights, & if she starts with a fresh cut tree, & stops watering on Christmas Day, the needles are almost dry enough to burn on 12th Night (Jan 6th). A precut tree is more dried out already, but unless it's gotten _really_ dry, steady watering keeps the needles from flaring all at once. If the bottom of the trunk dries out, cutting 1/2 inch off will improve uptake of new water. Only dry trees, flare up as seen in fire warning videos...
I thought this was going to be about dusting the tree with borax. It would be a bit messy, but it could look like snow and perhaps prevent fire from spreading on the tree. Inhaling the borax dust ain't great for you though, especially children.
Oh gosh just the thought of how messy that would have been is making me itch!! You can make borax crystals though... I've made little ornaments from pipe cleaners and a concentrated borax solution that crystalizes and looks like rock candy... maybe next year we dip a whole tree in borax and crystallize it??
I bet the borax formed a salt that blocked water uptake and that's why the borax trees wilted so quickly. This of course also effectively dried the tree thus making it way more flammable. Plus this never had a chance to work since the thing that burns quickly when a pine lights on fire are the pine needles themselves, not the actual wood and the pines obviously cannot be made fireproof in the same way the wood can be.
In the lumber scenario, wouldn't the christmas tree equivalent be spraying the tree with a boric acid solution aerosol and coating the tree? Also, it seemed that the dry boron tree's twigs didn't burn down to "glowing orange nothing" like in the regular dry tree but remained charred and black like it was supposed to? The % weight loss of the remaining tree chunk to starting tree weight would've told us if the burning was suppressed at all possibly? They seemed visually different but it wasn't on screen for very long.
That difference can easily be explained by the lack of pine needles on the borax tree. Wood itself doesn't ignite readily so you need a quite strong and continous flame to actually get to catch fire, that's why whenever you want to start a fire you have to build up from small twigs and you might need to start with paper. So there simply wasn't enough fuel for the wood to really catch fire in the Borax tree.
Excellent video. Sad to learn that not everything posted online is true, but still an excellent video. IMO, you're making the lives of chemistry teachers easier by providing interesting examples of how chemistry impacts everyone. Thank you for sharing.
That forestry service recipe reads like someone trying to see how much BS someone will belive. As for how it's started, I think that originally, the borax solution was just a wash or temporary to kill fungi to prevent potential mold and stink.
I loved the videos you are making at the moment. They are super good. Please keep that up. Maybe this video is a little late for this year. But maybe the algorithm will pick it back up next year 🤞.
I mean, if you get enough borax into the tree it'll burn green. So at least it's more Christmasy...
One of the best videos you've ever done.
Keep your tree's stump submerged at all times, or it'll seal itself and won't be able to absorb water very well.
"Waterfall"
I love this channel
Gatorade for trees...so the tree craves electrolytes 😬
Reminds me of idiocracy.
Technically they do.
It's got elec-tree-lytes
It's got what trees crave
Very punny! Love the shout out to Idiocracy!
Yes this is my special interest topic
The water molecule at 7:50 clearly was trying to prevent a future fire.
I think that in a dry tree, the burnable chemicals are flammable, not combustible, but I'd need to find the flashpoint. (I'm thinking coniferous resins like pine sap.) If it is 100°C or lower, it's flammable. If a flashpoint is less than 140°C but above 100°C, then it's combustible. If a flashpoint is over 140°C , the material is industrially considered to be non-flammable or non-combustible.
As per borax mechanism, it's a degreaser: simply thins down the resin and lowers viscosity of the sap, allowing for increase in capillary effects. This forces water into the tree as well as out.
Your water molecule released and evaporated!😊
🤣🤣🤣
Cool a Christmas team up!
Nice and damned great video.
Stay safe, follow Alex and George’s advice and stay hydrated- you, your tree and your pets
"Silicon" is the element, "Silicone" is the rubber like material.
I remember this when someone says it and then immediately forget as soon as I have to say it, haha
That's why the rest of the world calls the element Silicium.
Wait, you don't water your trees throughout the whole celebration season??? What's that 8 days of drying before the test about?
Yup she mentions that 8 or 9 minutes in. I think it was for effect, worse case scenario 😮
@@garywhite2050 yeah, I ain't buying it: if you leave your tree for over a week unattended, it doesn't really matter if the fire spreads in 20 seconds or a minute.
We were also a bit surprised to find that even after a week of being dry, the tree that had been in plain water still didn't burn. Goes to show how effective of a fireproofing method regular old water is for a Christmas tree.
I think not watering the tree is the norm in most places, I've at least never seen anyone do it.
My Mom does candles on her tree instead of electric lights, & if she starts with a fresh cut tree, & stops watering on Christmas Day, the needles are almost dry enough to burn on 12th Night (Jan 6th).
A precut tree is more dried out already, but unless it's gotten _really_ dry, steady watering keeps the needles from flaring all at once. If the bottom of the trunk dries out, cutting 1/2 inch off will improve uptake of new water.
Only dry trees, flare up as seen in fire warning videos...
Yesss love botanical Christmas science content 🎄🎄🎄
So ... dont stop watering your tree?
I thought this was going to be about dusting the tree with borax. It would be a bit messy, but it could look like snow and perhaps prevent fire from spreading on the tree. Inhaling the borax dust ain't great for you though, especially children.
Oh gosh just the thought of how messy that would have been is making me itch!! You can make borax crystals though... I've made little ornaments from pipe cleaners and a concentrated borax solution that crystalizes and looks like rock candy... maybe next year we dip a whole tree in borax and crystallize it??
It definitely wouldn't prevent the fire but it would maybe make it look slightly green so at least it would be festive.
There is flame-retardant tree flocking available, & before you ask; no, it isn't pet(/child/anything) safe.
Carbonaceous Char
My next bandname 🎄
_The Carbonaceous Period_ rocks
I bet the borax formed a salt that blocked water uptake and that's why the borax trees wilted so quickly. This of course also effectively dried the tree thus making it way more flammable. Plus this never had a chance to work since the thing that burns quickly when a pine lights on fire are the pine needles themselves, not the actual wood and the pines obviously cannot be made fireproof in the same way the wood can be.
Similarly if you eat sunscreen it will help less than if you apply to skin.
Well, sure, but what else am I going to use to replace mayonnaise?
Thank you and happy holidays, Reactions team! :)
Water is the best fire-prevention chemical!
(Yes, water is a chemical.)
Water has nothing on asbestos.
I love this. Thanks for sharing
"It's got electrolytes, it's what plants crave"
In the lumber scenario, wouldn't the christmas tree equivalent be spraying the tree with a boric acid solution aerosol and coating the tree?
Also, it seemed that the dry boron tree's twigs didn't burn down to "glowing orange nothing" like in the regular dry tree but remained charred and black like it was supposed to? The % weight loss of the remaining tree chunk to starting tree weight would've told us if the burning was suppressed at all possibly? They seemed visually different but it wasn't on screen for very long.
That difference can easily be explained by the lack of pine needles on the borax tree. Wood itself doesn't ignite readily so you need a quite strong and continous flame to actually get to catch fire, that's why whenever you want to start a fire you have to build up from small twigs and you might need to start with paper. So there simply wasn't enough fuel for the wood to really catch fire in the Borax tree.
Just wanted to note that pine trees are just better at retaining water than spruce.
One solution for preventing a dry tree is only having it up for a reasonable amount of time...if you have it up for six weeks, that's way too long.
Excellent video. Sad to learn that not everything posted online is true, but still an excellent video. IMO, you're making the lives of chemistry teachers easier by providing interesting examples of how chemistry impacts everyone. Thank you for sharing.
That forestry service recipe reads like someone trying to see how much BS someone will belive.
As for how it's started, I think that originally, the borax solution was just a wash or temporary to kill fungi to prevent potential mold and stink.
I loved the videos you are making at the moment. They are super good. Please keep that up.
Maybe this video is a little late for this year. But maybe the algorithm will pick it back up next year 🤞.
The moral of the story: Charlie Brown is safe
alexxx can water my tree any day
Awesome
Can you guys recommend some good chemistry themed ugly christmas sweaters
Please speak with a stable volume, please.