What are the three terms in the fire triangle?

What are the three terms in the fire triangle?

• A. Fuel, Heat, Oxygen
• B. Fuel, Water, Oxygen
• C. Fuel, Heat, Nitrogen
• D. Oxygen, Heat, Water

Answer: (A)

Three things must be present for fire to sustain: fuel, heat, and oxygen. Fuel is the material that burns, heat provides the energy needed to reach ignition and keep the reaction going, and oxygen from the air supports the chemical reaction that releases energy. If you remove any one of these, the flame goes out: cooling lowers the heat below the level needed for combustion, removing fuel cuts off the burning material, and cutting off the oxygen slows or stops the reaction. The other options include elements that aren’t part of the basic trio. Water isn’t a component that fuels the fire—it’s used to absorb heat and cool the flame. Nitrogen is just a major part of air, not a building block of the combustion process itself.

Three things must be present for fire to sustain: fuel, heat, and oxygen. Fuel is the material that burns, heat provides the energy needed to reach ignition and keep the reaction going, and oxygen from the air supports the chemical reaction that releases energy. If you remove any one of these, the flame goes out: cooling lowers the heat below the level needed for combustion, removing fuel cuts off the burning material, and cutting off the oxygen slows or stops the reaction.

The other options include elements that aren’t part of the basic trio. Water isn’t a component that fuels the fire—it’s used to absorb heat and cool the flame. Nitrogen is just a major part of air, not a building block of the combustion process itself.