What makes wood pop when burned

Properly seasoning firewood is about proper storage of your firewood. First, logs should be cut to size, approximately 3 inches shorter than the width of your firebox. Larger logs should be split to a width 3 to 6 inches. The split wood should be stacked off of the ground, preferably in a sunny place where the wind can blow through it.

The wood should remain uncovered during the curing process. It take six months to a year for softwoods to season fully, while hardwoods take one to two years to be dry enough to burn. Once the wood has been seasoned, it should be covered to prevent it from reabsorbing moisture before it heads to your fireplace.

Wood from the Redenbacher tree. Backwoods Savage Minister of Fire. Feb 14, 27, Michigan. Thems termite turds exploding. Nov 19, 2, Central Sands, Wisconsin. Sometimes every kind of wood I burn will pop. Bear in mind that I don't burn a lot of different kinds of wood, but out of the few, white oak and red pine pops quite a bit.

Black oak and choke cherry not very often. Dec 24, 2, southern NH. BucksCoBernie Feeling the Heat. Oct 8, Sep 30, 10, Bend, OR. The bark of Western Larch Tamarack does that when you toss a split onto nice hot coals. Smells good, too. Nov 24, 3, Tuscola, IL myplace. Hedge goes nuts sometimes. Sep 24, Blue Bell, PA. Black Locust always seem to burn like the 4th of July for me! Locust sparks, sometimes spectacularly.

But for pops, cherry and sometimes fir seem to be really good at getting sap pockets that explode unexpectedly. Aug 11, 15, Anderson, Indiana. JoeyD Minister of Fire. Jun 15, South Jersey. It must be POPlar? Maybe a picture will help. Sep 13, ohio. North of 60 Minister of Fire. Jul 27, 2, Yukon Canada. Sounds like you had pine in there to me. I hope not though, because if it was, your gonna have to replace your chimney now.

Battenkiller Minister of Fire. Nov 26, 3, Just Outside the Blue Line. Click to expand Chief Ryan New Member. Mar 17, Long Island NY. Hey, Wonder Friend! Thanks for guessing tomorrow's Wonder of the Day! We can't wait to see if you're right! Hello there, Derpy-Chan! We think it's great you already knew why wood crackles! Do you like hanging out by campfires? We sure do!! We totally agree, Mrs. Quinn's Class! We do love making and eating s'mores. There are 23 of us who like eating them and one who does not like eating them.

We love making and eating s'mores too, Mrs. Check back for more Wonders of the Day! That's a great question, Kaedyn! Have you ever seen a great big bonfire? We think it probably depends on how you build the camp fire and what types of wood and other materials you burn. It seems like long pieces of wood help make tall flames! It can be a pretty relaxing sound, Isabelle!

We always enjoy watching the flames of a campfire dance around too! We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature. Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:. Want to add a little wonder to your website? Help spread the wonder of families learning together.

We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. Why does wood crackle when it burns? Why does wood burn? What chemical reactions take place when wood burns? Tags: See All Tags burn , chemistry , fire , flame , science , wood. Wonder What's Next? Tomorrow's Wonder of the Day is brand new…and really, really old!

Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member: There's no better way to learn even more about how wood crackles when it burns than to build your very own fire! You'll need the help of an adult friend or family member. You'll need some wood and tools to start a fire. You can start a fire in your fireplace at home, if you have one, or you could use an outdoor fire pit, too.

Follow your supervising adult's directions carefully as you help to build a fire. Once you have a fire going, sit back and enjoy it. Can you hear the wood crackle and pop? Explain to your friends and family members what's going on!

You know one of the best things about a fire? It produces heat! What can you do with that heat? One of our favorite things to do with heat from a fire is to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows. So once you get your fire going, grab some hot dogs and marshmallows and enjoy the best benefits of your fire! Want to test out what you learned today? After you get a good fire going, try out different types of wood in the fire. Compare dry wood to a piece of wood you've soaked in water for several minutes.

What differences do you see in the way the two types of wood burn? Does one make more crackling and popping sounds than the other? Why is that? Have fun explaining these different reactions to a friend or family member.

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