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Mystery #3Tier 2chemistry reactions fire oxygen

Why does fanning a fire make it roar up instead of blowing it out?

You would think blowing on a fire might put it out, the way you blow out birthday candles. Yet fan a campfire and it does the opposite: it flares up brighter and hotter. Same puff of air, wildly different result. So why does fanning a fire make it roar up instead of blowing it out?

Bright orange flames leaping from a campfire, with glowing embers at the base.
Photo: Free Nature Stock · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Your guess

What do you think the fanning is giving the fire?

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