Why do things turn black when they burn?

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Things that range from plastics and skin all the way to wood all turn black when they burn. Why black, and why not any other color? Does it involve the carbon in these objects?

In: Chemistry

Anonymous 0 Comments

You’re the samples are all carbon based and elemental carbon is black. Also a lot of what we use to burn things uses fuels that are also made with carbons and leave black residue when burning. Burning is a fast chemical process that generally breaks down molecules into more basic elements, in this case black carbon.