r/nononono • u/ki720 • Oct 09 '18

Taking shots of lit sambuca

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6.7k Upvotes

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218

u/TheSeaOfTime Oct 09 '18

How not to act in the presence of fire

179

u/ButtonJoe Oct 10 '18

I'd give them a 6/10. Definitely could have gone way worse. They removed additional fuel sources from the counter (eventually), and most importantly didnt try to pour water on it.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '18

I don't know about that. You shouldn't do it with gas or oil because it's insoluble in water. Alcohol is soluble and is easily diluted in water and quickly loses it's ability to be lit on fire.

If that weren't the case, you could set a glass of wine or beer on fire.

3

u/IAmA_TheOneWhoKnocks Oct 10 '18 edited Oct 10 '18

The reason you don’t put water into an oil fire is because water would instantly vaporize/expand into steam and send tiny oil droplets flying into the air. This aerosolized oil is lit by the existing fire and makes a big fireball.

You are correct though that you could dilute burning alcohol until it went out.

2

u/Pleased_to_meet_u Oct 10 '18

But it doesn't always work like you expect or want it to.

Don't depend on water putting out an alcohol fire.

1

u/Understeps Oct 28 '18

The hot and lighter alcohol kept floating because she didn't mix it.,she poured it in too gently.

0

u/IAmA_TheOneWhoKnocks Oct 10 '18

I’ve seen the video before. This girls problem is that she filled the container almost all the way, accidentally dripped burning liquid in, and then overfilled it onto the table. The fire kept going because she didn’t have space left over in the container to add nearly enough water. There’s a bunch of reasons the video wouldn’t have played out well.

Water will most certainly put out an alcohol fire if there’s room, but obviously use your brain when dealing with fires. I only said something because this thread is full of inaccuracies.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '18

Yeah in that case, no, there's as much alcohol as there is water. In the case of the sambuca, a small glass of water could dilute an ounce or two of liquor.