Can I light a bundle of string on fire with a match on my asphalt driveway?
Question
So, I have a bundle of string, and I wanna do something creative with it instead of just throwing it away. So what do I come up with? BURN IT. The question is if I can, while keeping water in a bucket nearby, set the string down on my asphalt driveway, throw a match on it until it catches fire, and safely put it out with water without causing any damage to the driveway?
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General Physics
7 years
1 Answer
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Answer ( 1 )
No you cannot. You will damage asphalt at low temperature.
Where people have dropped burning substances on roads I can see the damage for years. Even after it has a new layer of stones added it is still visible.
To avoid damage you need to keep the temperatures below the melting point of bitumen.
The best way is to use a metal tray ( thick if possible to avoid damage to the tray ).
Put it onto bricks. When the substance burns the tray gets hot but there is air beneath that and between the tray and any other surface.
In that way you can burn materials above bitumen, grass or cement with minimal damage.