2
$\begingroup$

I have an OC. His body can combust and become coated in flames, but when he gets really ticked off, his fire becomes hotter and becomes violet in color.

From what I've read, violet fire is extremely f*ckin hot (3,000°F+). And it made me curious: just how powerful is violet fire, is it possible at all?

Would my OC be crazy op and unintentionally destroy everything in his path? Or what?

And before anyone asks, yes, he can withstand high temperatures, he'd definitely be dead if he wasn't.

EDIT: Thank you for the answers! The reason I thought violet fire was hot was because blue fire is a thing (you see them on a gas stove), so I assume violet would be hotter. (I also went off how blue stars are the hottest ones) Again, thanks for the answers!

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
5
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ There's a slight confusion between black-body radiation colour and flame colour. $\endgroup$
    – Escaped dental patient.
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 6:26
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ To elaborate on Muppet's comment - purple fire usually comes from specific chemical reactions, not temperature specifically. Tipically things go from red or orange hot to white hot. $\endgroup$
    – The Square-Cube Law
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 6:33
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ BTW, if you roll your mouse over the science-based and science-fiction tags, you'll discover that they are mutually exclusive. (It's always a good idea to take the time to read the tag wikis before using the tags.) I removed the tag that appeared to fit the least. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 7:08
  • $\begingroup$ @AngryMuppet would blue fire be possible with black body radiation seeing as there are blue stars? $\endgroup$
    – throwaway account
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 16:52
  • $\begingroup$ @throwawayaccount Yes, stars are pretty darn hot as JBH points out. $\endgroup$
    – Escaped dental patient.
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 19:49

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
4
$\begingroup$

The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good

  1. The Ugly

When you take the proper steps to create a violet flame, it is, indeed, very hot. You're not even close. It's more like 71,000℉ (Yeah... seventy-one thousand degrees). Do I believe this? Well... everybody seems to be quoting the same statistic in the same way, which isn't a recipe for credibility.[1], [2] So, yeah, your "OC" (whatever that means) is vaporizing everything within a credible distance, including the earth beneath his/her feet. The character is so hot that it's not worth being that hot.

  1. The Bad

However, it's not the color of the flame that makes the flame hot. As @AngryMuppet and @TheSquare-CubeLaw said in comments, the progression of flame from one color to another rarely traverses the color violet. When you get it, it's because you've added fuel additives to your burning mix that bring that heat to bear. In other words, it's the fuel that makes it hot. There's nothing intrinsic to a "violet" flame.

  1. The Good

If you think about it, what do you care? You've picked a color for the flame. Now pick a temperature for the flame. It doesn't need to be science-based because it's your world. You want your OC to burn with the fires of the hottest star? OK. Planet burns up, but you got it!

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ OC = original creation/character. It's often used to refer to what somebody came up with. Example "Arachnid-Guy is my OC" -> "I have came up with a character called Arachnid-Guy and I claim I am the first person to do that." $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 7:48
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @VLAZ Okey-dokey! Thanks for the explanation. What's curious is that my family and I owned and ran a small publishing house for about 10 years. Among the many things we learned is that almost nothing is original. I once had someone argue with me that the Starkiller in SW:TFA was completely different from the original Death Star because it was powered by a sun. Yup, round. Destroys planets. Same thing. Just bigger. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 8:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Let me be clear that "OC" has an extremely bad reputation. The Arachnid-Guy example is kind of on point. A lot of "OC" fails the O part by being mostly the same as something else but redressed a bit. And most other OC barely scrapes by. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Commented Oct 22, 2022 at 8:06
3
$\begingroup$

Good question.

TL;DR if your guy burns violet, it isn't because of temperature.

In theory, the color of a body that is emitting light through temperature alone correlates to that temperature. In practice though a body will emit light in many different wavelenghts, with one wavelength being more intense. That's why stuff being white hot is a thing.

Then there is human perception. By the temperature the main wavelenghts reach violet, tge otger wavelenghts would cause us to see white. It would also be a strong source of light that could blind you from very far away.

Sometimes you can see stuff burning in a violet color, such as in fireworks, but that is due to chemical reactions which cause electrons to gain more energy temporarily. They then release that energy as light, and depending on the element and the amount of energy you get different colors - but without absurd temperatures. I once made a green flame in a lab by burning bubble gum - and green is not a usual black body radiation color because you don't get a pure green just from temperature.

That said, you can still make him burn purple, and then assign him any temperature you like. Figure the damage caused from the latter. At 3,000 F you would melt many metals and forms of steel on contact (you can find tables with various melting points easily on the internet). Most kinds of rock would melt too - the floor underneath your OC will become lava within minutes or even seconds unless he is standing on a huge block of tungsten.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

How Hot do You Want It?

The kettle goes up to 100 degrees hot. The oven can hit 250 degrees. Now answer me this -- would you rather stick your hand in the kettle or the oven?

Of course the answer is the oven. The air in the oven is hotter than the water in the kettle. But there might be a litre of water and less than a gram of air.

Your hero works the same. He can heat the air around his body to eighty-nine bajillion degrees, so that it glows violet, mauve or even an attractive puce. Does that mean he can put his hand through a steel door by melting it?

Nope. The air is very hot but it is still only air. Once he touches the wall the air cools down. If he put his hand there long enough maybe he could start melting the door. It depends on how much air he can heat at once and how fast he can pump heat into the wall.

This is good for you because you get to decide how powerful your hero is. Just make the air thicker or increase the speed he can heat it up.

Note, it is a waste of time to try and calculate these things. Just decide how melted you want that door to be and then say "the air heats up exactly fast enough to make that happen".

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

Don't go by temperature. Make it a flametest.

This is a technique that you use to check for elements. Put a bit in the flame and see what color it burns. The color itself won't make it hotter, but you can say that for some reason the character spills potassium into the flames when he really heats up. (You could offer that adenosine triphosphate provides energy to cells.)

He may need heavy duty potassium supplements as a consequence

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .