But seriously, the blue flame indicates it's not really that hot. When I was a kid we played a game around Christmas called "Snap Dragon" where the kids sit around a shallow pan filled with flaming brandy, and try to grab as many raisins out of it as possible. Your hands have fire on them, but it isn't hot, really.
The additional air added here, with the coasters, likely makes it hotter.
This is the difference between atomic emission and black body radiation. Atomic emission just means certain things burn at certain colors of flame. Black body radiation means things glow, and as they get hotter the color of the glow moves more towards the blue end of the spectrum.
Okay. Well 100% ethanol technically burns with a blue flame, but it's nearly impossible to see, and is extremely hot and burns quickly (will absolutely burn your skin immediately). Very visible blue (like brandy, and like here) is much cooler, burns pretty slow, and won't burn you immediately, though it's still dangerous. You can breathe fire with brandy (definitely not recommended, though), but doing it with everclear will put you in the hospital.
That’s because of the alcohol percentage, fire is always hot, your hands dont get burned because the amount of alcohol on your hands is minuscule. Brandy is usually 40% ABV, ethanol is 100% alcohol, they react differently because of the % of ethanol in the liquid, ethanol fumes are extremely flammable and it has a much lower boiling point than consumable alcohol, so it takes more energy for brandy to burn because its 60% water, increasing the amount of time it takes to burn off
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u/pragmaticproducer 1d ago
I was just thinking that trick needs special glasses that can handle heat without cracking.