Allan is correct, this is the basis for making charcoal. The cellulose which is the major component of wood, is nothing more than a polymer of glucose (simple sugar) units, with a slightly different linkage between units than starch. Those lnkages in cellulose make it indegistible to anything but a few bacteria (mainly found in the gut of termites). Heating up these materials in the absence of oxygen, basically leaves you carbon. You can see a similar reaction just by heating up table sugar in a test tube over a Bunsen burner. You'll see water come off and produce a black substance, which is mainly carbon.
Desert Eagle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Desert Eagle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I believe it turns to dust, Mark Delaney, might know for sure.
Jimi.
Good to see a post on the list, I was going through withdrawals.
For anyone who knows about chemistry or knows a chemist
We had a discussion today in chemistry and I can get bonus points if
someone would explain to me what will happen if wood is heated in a vacuum
without oxygen. For those of us who do our best to forget everything about
chemistry, everything has a melting point but wood combines with oxygen and
decomposes ( burns ) before melting point is reached. I was wondering if it
is
actually possible to melt wood.
So much water, so little time!
Website: http://chemprof.tripod.com/fishing.html
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