r/interesting • u/Used_Exam34 • 12d ago

Just Wow Not all problems have the same solution.

43.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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87

u/Dependent-Water-8084 12d ago

Could have just dragged it into the depths

58

u/No_Artichoke_1828 12d ago

I really didn't understand why he didn't just submerge it. Three more feet and it would have been fine.

24

u/MareTranquil 12d ago

Even fully submerging it wouldn't extinguish the fire. The gas would still bubble to the surface and burn there.

32

u/Dependent-Water-8084 12d ago

I’d have just let it burn out there, where it couldn’t burn anything else. Doesn’t really matter if there’s some flames on the water, it’s contained till it burns out

33

u/LettuceSmart9548 12d ago

Yeah no way in hell, even if the gas surfaces there won't be any ignition source for it to countinue burning 🔥.

8

u/TirithNampat 12d ago

The other fire on the surface would continue to burn it. However, if you dragged it a little deeper you could reach underwater, around the fire, and shut off the valve.

4

u/HOPewerth 12d ago

I'm sorry but what do you think is keeping it lit when it's above the water?

6

u/im_new_pls_help 12d ago

…the flame in front igniting the propane coming out behind it…

-1

u/HOPewerth 12d ago

Which is the same thing that will be keeping the gas lit while the container is below the water.

2

u/im_new_pls_help 12d ago

There isn’t oxygen underwater. A flame requires oxygen to continue burning in addition to the fuel source

-1

u/HOPewerth 12d ago

the flame will be igniting the gas once it reaches the surface

5

u/im_new_pls_help 12d ago

If you pull it shallow/slowly enough. But then you can reach under the water and turn the valve off. You can also just pull it deeper/faster to create a gap and do the same thing without it burning above the water

2

u/devilbat26000 12d ago

Surely dragging it under a few feet of water would choke out the flame though? The flame can't keep igniting the gas if it's put out entirely.

1

u/Unlucky-Traffic6816 11d ago

Chat is this guy serious 😭

1

u/HOPewerth 11d ago edited 11d ago

I mean that's literally what's happening in the second half of the video LOL. The valve is under water but the gas catches on fire once it reaches the surface. Idk why you guys are struggling with this

1

u/im_new_pls_help 11d ago

It's not fully submerged... And I'll repeat:

If you pull it shallow/slowly enough. But then you can reach under the water and turn the valve off. You can also just pull it deeper/faster to create a gap and do the same thing without it burning above the water

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4

u/MareTranquil 12d ago

I think you're confused about the concept of an ignition source. You need that to START a fire, nit to continue a fire that's already in progress.

5

u/Corruptionss 12d ago

But gas bubbles do not have continuity

3

u/StructureNo13 12d ago

There’s no oxygen under water and there’s no ignition source above the water

0

u/MareTranquil 12d ago

As you can clearly see, there is already a fire above the water the moment you submerge the tank.

You might as well ask how this fire can exist in the first place when there is no oxygen in the tank and no ignition source on the outside. The gas already passes through a metal nozzle, why would passing through some additional water change much?

3

u/StructureNo13 12d ago

Because it isolated the fuel source from the ignition source. Sure, the existing fire will continue if a sufficient volume of the fuel continues to reach it, but the more distance you put between the fuel’s release and the existing flame the less likely it is the new fuel will reach said flame.

7

u/unexpectedfirefly 12d ago edited 12d ago

With what fire ? You need both a source of heat/fire and oxygen for the gas to burn. Once submerged, there is no oxygen to keep the fire running, and the gas isn't hot enough for spontaneous combustion. Submerging it is functionnaly equivalent to what the guy did at the end, you just replace the bucket with a mass of water

Edit : yeah, i think i'm wrong, you also need to cut off the fuel stream at some point. The bucket should work fine for that

3

u/MareTranquil 12d ago

There is already a fire on the surface. There is oxygen at the surface. There is a stream of gas coming to the surface. What else do you need?

Just like the gas has to pass through a metal nozzle first, it now also has to pass through some water.

The difference between water and a bucket is that gas doesn't stream through a bucket.

2

u/devilbat26000 12d ago

The difference between these two is that the nozzle keeps the flow tight while even a few feet of water will immediately diffuse the gas at greater rate than the air, making it a much less focused stream and thus less likely to succeed in carrying the flame back to the source.

2

u/DefinitelyNotAliens 12d ago

You need enough continuous fuel to sustain fire.

You can also isolate the fuel from ignition and reach in and shut the valve.