Today Cortland’s Big Read concluded with a fascinating demonstration “Chemistry of Fire.” Paula Jones and Peter Jeffers conducted several demonstrations, and Scott Ochs engaged students in a discussion/workshop on arson. After a powerpoint and a lecture, the students’ had a task to determine where a house fire started that caused serious damage to the structure. Photos with some telling clues in each of three rooms were examined: a first floor living room and kitchen and a second floor bathroom.
Although the damage was significant in all three rooms, the toilet paper had not burned. Had the
heat of the fire been significantly higher in the bathroom the paper would have burned.
What would that temperature have had to be to burn the paper?
A rather fitting last event for the Big Read.
Dr. Sheila Cohen
