Question

Suppose you held a lighted match to a solid hunk of wood and another match to a pile of wood shavings. Which form of wood will catch fire more easily?

Answer 1

The pile of wood shavings will catch fire more easily than the solid hunk of wood. This is because the wood shavings have a larger surface area relative to their volume, allowing them to ignite more quickly when exposed to a flame. The smaller, thinner pieces of wood provide more exposure to oxygen and heat, which facilitates combustion. In contrast, the solid hunk of wood has a lower surface area-to-volume ratio, requiring more heat energy to reach the ignition temperature.