CH 2

Question 1

_______ is termed as a rapid and self-sustaining chemical process that yields heat and usually light.

Answer 1

combustion
pg 20

Question 2

Some solid fuels, particularly those that are porous and can char, undergo _______ at the surface of the fuel. This is known as nonflaming or smoldering combustion.

Answer 2

oxidation
pg 20

Question 3

The _______ is a simple model that explains nonflaming or surface combustion (smoldering) such as glowing charcoal.

Answer 3

fire triangle
pg 20

Question 4

Flaming combustion is more accurately explained using another model, the _________, which is comprised of the following four elements: heat, fuel, oxygen, and a self-sustained chemical reaction.

Answer 4

fire tetrahedron
pg 21

Question 5

Thermal energy (often referred to as ______) is a kinetic energy associated with the movement of the atoms and molecules that comprise matter.

Answer 5

heat energy
pg 21

Question 6

Before ignition, a fuel has ________ chemical energy.

Answer 6

potential
pg 21

Question 7

Temperature is a measurement of

Answer 7

kinetic energy
pg 21

Question 8

By definition, ________ is the capacity to perform work.

Answer 8

energy
pg 21

Question 9

In the case of heat, ______ means increasing temperature-causing the average level of _______ energy within the molecules of a substance to increase.

Answer 9

work; kinetic
pg 22

Question 10

Applying additional heat causes _______ (the chemical decomposition of a substance through the action of heat) in solid fuels and vaporization of liquid fuels, releasing ignitable vapors or gases.

Answer 10

pyrolisis
pg 23

Question 11

________ is a critical aspect of fire dynamics that is often overlooked by firefighters.

Answer 11

heat release rate (HRR)
pg 23

Question 12

The chemical content of any fuel determines its _______ and has a significant influence on its energy or _______.

Answer 12

heat of combustion; HRR
pg 23

Question 13

The ________ of a given fuel is the total amount of energy released when a specific amount of that fuel is oxidized. (burned)

Answer 13

heat of combustion
pg 23

Question 14

_______ has a direct impact on the flow rate necessary for fire control and on whether a compartment fire will flashover.

Answer 14

HRR
pg 24

Question 15

________ is dependent on the type, quality, and orientation of the fuel.

Answer 15

HRR
pg 24

Question 16

_________ is the dominant method of heat transfer in the early stages of fire development.

Answer 16

convection
pg 24

Question 17

___________ is the tendency of gases to stratify according to temperature. Other terms sometimes used to describe this tendency are heat stratification and thermal balance.

Answer 17

thermal layering
pg 26

Question 18

The ceiling temperature approaches 1,100 degrees F during a _______ and the heat being radiated to the floor may be sufficient to ignite ordinary materials such as newspaper.

Answer 18

rollover
pg 28

Question 19

Decay due to limited __________ supply is of much greater concern to firefighters.

Answer 19

oxygen
pg 29

Question 20

__________ is the layout of the structure including the number of stories, avenues for fire spread, compartmentation, and barriers to fire spread.

Answer 20

building configuration
pg 31

Question 21

___________ include insulation, heat reflectivity, retention, and conductivity.

Answer 21

thermal properties
pg 35

Question 22

A fuel’s ________ is dependent on its chemical content.

Answer 22

heat of combustion
pg 36

Question 23

The heat of combustion for _________ fuels such as plastics, gasoline, propane, and methane can be considerably higher than that of __________ fuels such as wood.

Answer 23

hydrocarbon; cellulose
pg 36

Question 24

Fires that are _________-controlled tend to produce greater volume of smoke than those that are _________-controlled.

Answer 24

ventilation; fuel
pg 38

Question 25

The terms __________ and _________ are used to describe how difficult it is to see through the smoke.

Answer 25

optical density; opacity pg 40

Question 26

The term ________ refers to the buoyancy of smoke.

Answer 26

physical density pg 40

Question 27

Smoke that is ________ will rise quickly and smoke that is not will hang low to the floor.

Answer 27

buoyant pg 40

Question 28

Even more important than the height of the gas layer are ________ in its height.

Answer 28

changes pg 40

Question 29

________ airflow is indicative of an underventilated fire with potential backdraft conditions.

Answer 29

pulsing pg

Question 30

If firefighters can see flames in the hot gas layer it may indicate ________ (pockets of flame seen intermittently in the smoke) and impeding rollover.

Answer 30

ghosting pg 43

Question 31

When firefighters die of traumatic causes (non-heart attack or stress related) in structure fires, it is often because they are overwhelmed by sudden and extreme changes in

Answer 31

fire behavior pg 46

Question 32

An increase in ventilation can result in deflagation called a

Answer 32

backdraft pg 51

Question 33

A ________ is a form of the fire gas ignition - that is, the ignition of accumulated flammable products of combustion.

Answer 33

smoke explosion pg 54

Question 34

Unlike ghosting or rollover, a _________ involves ignition of a mixture of air and flammable combustion products that are within the flammable range.

Answer 34

smoke explosion pg 54