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The gas essential for burning (combustion) is?
A. Nitrogen
B. Oxygen
C. Carbon dioxide
D. Hydrogen
Correct Answer Is Option = Oxygen
Notes / Explanation
The gas that is essential for burning, or combustion, is oxygen, without which nothing can burn. Burning, or combustion, is a process in which a substance combines rapidly with oxygen, giving out heat and usually light, so that oxygen is a necessary part of the process, and without oxygen, burning cannot take place. This is why, when a fire is deprived of oxygen, for example by covering it so that air cannot reach it, the fire goes out, because it is starved of the oxygen it needs to continue burning. This principle is the basis of many methods of putting out fires, which work by cutting off the supply of oxygen to the fire. Oxygen is one of the gases that make up the air, forming a significant part of it, and it is this oxygen in the air that allows things to burn in the open. Besides being essential for burning, oxygen is also essential for the process by which living things release energy from their food, a process that in some ways resembles a slow burning, so that oxygen is essential both for fire and for the life of most living things, which is why we and most other living things must breathe in oxygen in order to live. The importance of oxygen for burning has many practical consequences. In situations where burning is required, a good supply of oxygen or air is needed, which is why fires are fanned or supplied with air to make them burn better, and why, in certain applications, pure oxygen is supplied to produce very hot flames. Conversely, in situations where burning must be prevented or stopped, the supply of oxygen is cut off. Oxygen itself does not burn, but it is the gas that supports the burning of other substances. The study of burning and the role of oxygen in it is a part of the science of chemistry. For PPSC and other competitive examinations, the key points to remember are that the gas essential for burning, or combustion, is oxygen, that burning is a process in which a substance combines rapidly with oxygen, giving out heat and light, that without oxygen burning cannot take place, which is the basis of many methods of putting out fires by cutting off the supply of oxygen, and that oxygen, which makes up a significant part of the air, is also essential for the process by which living things release energy from their food.
