rosen@gypsy.UUCP (03/24/86)
A friend of mine showed me a little trick while we were out at a resaurant and I was wondering if someone who reads this group could provide an explaination. It was quite interesting. My friend took a slice of lemon (a wedge) and cut away the pulp or meat of the lemon leaving only the rind. He then lit a match and proceded to squeeze the rind at the match. To my surprise, the match flame flared up as if the rind squeezing was giving off some type of flammable gas. He did this about three or four times with each time causing the flame to flair up a noticeable amount. That was all the rind was good for and then nothing furthered happended. It was quite surprising since you don't think of a lemon as being flamable in any way, shape or form. My friend also told me that this works the same way with oranges and I might guess other citrus fruits as well. It is important to note that this had nothing to do with the juice of the lemon and was caused only by the peel itself (or so it seemed). Someone care to take guess as to what is going on here? I'm going to be puzzled until I get a more scientific explaination. Thanks. ---------------- | Steve Rosen | Siemens Research and Technology Laboratories | Princeton, NJ USENET: adrvax\ ihnp4 | princeton |-->!siemens!gypsy!rosen topaz | vrdxhq/ ARPA: siemens!gypsy!rosen@TOPAZ
jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (03/26/86)
> > My friend took a slice of lemon (a wedge) and cut away the pulp or meat of > the lemon leaving only the rind. He then lit a match and proceded to > squeeze the rind at the match. To my surprise, the match flame flared up as > if the rind squeezing was giving off some type of flammable gas... > > Someone care to take guess as to what is going on here? I'm going to be > puzzled until I get a more scientific explaination. Thanks. > ---------------- > | Steve Rosen Citrus peels are full of oil. When you squeeze the peel the oil sprays out in a mist. It burns easily (just like most oils), especially when atomized like this. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) "Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent..." {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff
eric@chronon.UUCP (Eric Black) (03/26/86)
>My friend took a slice of lemon (a wedge) and cut away the pulp or meat of >the lemon leaving only the rind. He then lit a match and proceded to >squeeze the rind at the match. To my surprise, the match flame flared up as >if the rind squeezing was giving off some type of flammable gas. He did >this about three or four times with each time causing the flame to flair up >a noticeable amount. That was all the rind was good for and then nothing >furthered happended. It was quite surprising since you don't think of a >lemon as being flamable in any way, shape or form. My friend also told me >that this works the same way with oranges and I might guess other citrus >fruits as well. It is important to note that this had nothing to do with >the juice of the lemon and was caused only by the peel itself (or so it >seemed). > >Someone care to take guess as to what is going on here? I'm going to be >puzzled until I get a more scientific explaination. Thanks. > >---------------- >| Steve Rosen >| Siemens Research and Technology Laboratories >| Princeton, NJ Lemon (and other citrus) OIL, as obtained by squeezing the peel, is flammable. -- Eric Black "Garbage In, Gospel Out" UUCP: {sun,pyramid,hplabs,amdcad}!chronon!eric VOICE: (415) 941-0403 US SNAIL: Chronon Computer Corp. 2570 El Camino Real W. Suite 206 Mountain View, CA 94040
laneg@ulowell.UUCP (Dromio) (03/28/86)
In article <53000001@gypsy.UUCP> rosen@gypsy.UUCP writes: > > >He then lit a match and proceded to >squeeze the rind at the match. To my surprise, the match flame flared up as >if the rind squeezing was giving off some type of flammable gas. > >---------------- >| Steve Rosen Elementary, my dear Watson! The peel did give off an inflammable gas-well, not a gas, really but a spray of oil. And vegetable oils are well known to be inflammable. Next question! a lesser Power of Darkness