Do & Learn: Mini Fire Extinguisher

How to make a mini Fire Extinguisher at home with the help of easily available household items...

Mini Fire Extinguisher 

Tools & Materials:

Vinegar, Baking soda, Plastic jar (250 ml), Syringe ( 10 ml), IV tubings, scissors, Nail, Straw, Candle, Matchsticks.

Construction:

1. Take a plastic jar and make two holes on its cap with the help of a nail such that one hole should match with the IV tube and other should match with the straw.
2. Take syringe and fill it with vinegar.
3. Pour the jar with five tablespoons of baking soda.
4. Cut a 5cm piece of IV tube and fix it in the hole made in the cap.
5. Take straw and insert it in the cap through the hole such that it’s bent end should remain outside. 
6. Now connect the loaded syringe with the free end of the IV tube.
7. Finally cover the jar with the modified cap.

To Do & Notice:

Burn some pieces of paper or take a burning candle instead. Take the fire extinguisher, inject the vinegar into the jar and point the bent end of straw towards the fire and let the emerging gas spread all the way down over and around the flame.

Observation:

In this experiment we can observe that the gas coming out of the straw can extinguish the fire.

What’s Going On:

This fire extinguisher typically deprives a fire of oxygen. The baking soda and vinegar react to make carbon dioxide, a gas that is heavier than oxygen. As it ‘pours’ out of the bottle, it pushes the lighter oxygen away from the candle. The fire, now deprived of oxygen, can no longer burn. Acetic acid present in vinegar will readily react with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to form sodium acetate with the effervescence of carbon dioxide.

Equation for the reaction:

CH3COOH + NaHCO3 → CH3COONa + CO2 + H2O

Precautions:

Be careful while working with fire.