Question

Sourav was heating oil to fry potato chips. The cooking oil all of a sudden caught fire. He took water to pour on the fire to extinguish it. But meanwhile his mother came and switched off the gas and covered the wok completely with a plate.

• Do you think pouring water to the burning oil would have worked? Why?
• Do you think what Sourav’s mother had done is right? Why?
• Can you suggest other ways in which we can stop fire due to burning
oil?
• What values of Sourav and Sourav’s mother are shown here?

Answer 1

Pouring water on a burning oil fire would not have worked. Sourav's mother did the right thing by switching off the gas and covering the wok completely with a plate. Other ways to stop a fire due to burning oil include using a fire extinguisher, covering the fire with a lid or a damp cloth, or using sand or baking soda to smother the fire.

Step-by-step explanation:

Pouring water on a burning oil fire would not have worked. When water is poured on burning oil, it can cause the flames to spread and intensify because oil and water do not mix. This is because water and oil have different densities and properties, and the heat from the fire can cause the water to vaporize rapidly, creating steam and spreading the fire.

What Sourav's mother did was the right thing to do. Switching off the gas and covering the wok completely with a plate helped to cut off the oxygen supply, which is necessary for a fire to burn. By doing this, Sourav's mother was able to smother the fire and prevent it from spreading.

Other ways to stop a fire due to burning oil include using a fire extinguisher, covering the fire with a lid or a damp cloth, or using sand or baking soda to smother the fire. These methods help to cut off the oxygen supply and starve the fire of the fuel it needs to burn.

Sourav's value of taking immediate action to try and extinguish the fire shows responsibility and quick thinking. Sourav's mother's value of calmly assessing the situation, making the right decision, and taking appropriate action demonstrates leadership and knowledge of fire safety.

Answer 2

Answers

Pouring water on an oil fire will not work, it will spread the oil and spread the fire because oil and water do not mix. It could also splash the hot oil onto Sourav and burn him.

Sourav’s mother did the right thing.
By turning off the gas she eliminated the heat source. By covering the wok she eliminated oxygen that the fire requires to burn. Covering the wok also prevented the fire from spreading.

Another way to stop the fire would be a kitchen fire extinguisher which would put the fire out quickly. If you don’t have an extinguisher, you can pour salt on a small fire to smother it, or pour baking soda on it (not baking powder) chemically extinguishes it.

The values shown are a son helping his mother in the kitchen and his mother showing him a science lesson of how to properly extinguish an oil fire