The Internet Was Wrong About This

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

I mean, if you get enough borax into the tree it'll burn green. So at least it's more Christmasy...

[@ThootenTootinTabootin]

We always burn our tree at the end of the season. I'm going to try this.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

@ThootenTootinTabootin probably best to dissolve the borax in water or rubbing alcohol and spray down the tree rather than try to get it to absorb it. Hope it works!

[@crusher9z9]

it won't work because borax contains sodium and sodium is orangerest, i mean really orange. its like literally the whole reason wood burns orange in the first place, sodium will dominate 90% of the time.

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

Throw some strontium in there too for red 😂

[@H_avox_]

Throw some phosphorus on there… FOR SCIENCE!

[@eatmorenachos]

One of the best videos you've ever done. Keep your tree's stump submerged at all times, or it'll seal itself and won't be able to absorb water very well.

[@dwaynezilla]

It's got elec-tree-lytes It's got what trees crave

[@LFTRnow]

Very punny! Love the shout out to Idiocracy!

[@ChaosPootato]

"Waterfall" I love this channel

[@Internet-Antics]

SO funny!

[@feedbackzaloop]

As per borax mechanism, it's a degreaser: simply thins down the resin and lowers viscosity of the sap, allowing for increase in capillary effects. This forces water into the tree as well as out.

[@Kassidar]

The cells in a tree do not die as soon as you cut it down. The tree is still alive for a good long while. (Just like a severed finger is not instantly dead and can be reattached if done before it does start dying). So putting your living cut tree in a bucket of poison kills the tree? colour us all shocked. Good to see articles are still being published based on untested speculation as if it's fact. Some people are going to have a very sad christmas tree this year.

[@zyxw2000]

With modern light strings, trees rarely catch on fire anymore. Incandescents have 2 fuses in the plug and LEDs don't heat up.

[@AaronALAI]

Gatorade for trees...so the tree craves electrolytes 😬

[@sycamorph]

Reminds me of idiocracy.

[@hedgehog3180]

Technically they do.

[@IEaTpoopy]

Idk I dumped out all the prime we had and it killed the grass 😂

[@jamesmck896]

It’s what plants crave

[@hectech]

Similarly if you eat sunscreen it will help less than if you apply to skin.

[@SpoodyFlopp]

Well, sure, but what else am I going to use to replace mayonnaise?

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

Yes this is my special interest topic

[@taukid421]

"Silicon" is the element, "Silicone" is the rubber like material.

[@AlexDainisPhD]

I remember this when someone says it and then immediately forget as soon as I have to say it, haha

[@hedgehog3180]

That's why the rest of the world calls the element Silicium.

[@TheViolaBuddy]

To be fair, she never said "Silicone" - she said two different valid pronunciations of "Silicon" ("kin" with a schwa sound /ə/ and "kon" with a "short o" sound /ɑ/; "Silicone" would be "kone" with an enunciated long o sound /oʊ/).

[@johnford7847]

Excellent video. Sad to learn that not everything posted online is true, but still an excellent video. IMO, you're making the lives of chemistry teachers easier by providing interesting examples of how chemistry impacts everyone. Thank you for sharing.

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

The water molecule at 7:50 clearly was trying to prevent a future fire.

[@cassieoz1702]

So ... dont stop watering your tree?

[@JeremyGabbard]

This is what I came to the comments for

[@kittycat3312]

Correct. It is recommended to keep real trees watered.

[@user255]

Who would have guessed that watered tree doesn't burn as well as dry? Everybody.

[@thekaxmax]

Of course. But it has to be tested. Esp since alot of the fire risk is oils, and a healthy watered tree has more.

[@user255]

​No, the oil content does not change in few days. Where would the oil go? You probably chose healthy tree for xmas... it really is just dry vs fresh.@thekaxmax ​@@thekaxmax

[@user255]

@@thekaxmax No, few days does not change the oil content and usually only healthy trees are picked as xmas trees. It really is just dry vs fresh.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

I think that in a dry tree, the burnable chemicals are flammable, not combustible, but I'd need to find the flashpoint. (I'm thinking coniferous resins like pine sap.) If it is 100°C or lower, it's flammable. If a flashpoint is less than 140°C but above 100°C, then it's combustible. If a flashpoint is over 140°C , the material is industrially considered to be non-flammable or non-combustible.

[@Taytyaaytyat]

If you want to talk technicality of terms, you should probably use the word "inflammable" rather than "flammable"

[@finallyforfeited]

Why stop watering before testing?

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Your water molecule released and evaporated!😊

[@Orchids.and.Endlers]

🤣🤣🤣

[@willythemailboy2]

I'm stuck here trying to figure out how she got water to crash out of solution.

[@willemvandebeek]

Thank you and happy holidays, Reactions team! :)

[@rickperez3167]

What if you had tried to start the fire while keeping both types of watered trees hydrated?

[@thekaxmax]

The test was one watered and one not. Why duplicate?

[@rickperez3167]

How often do you let your trees dry out to the point that these were while still decorated? Just doesn't seem like a real world test.

[@pocpic]

That forestry service recipe reads like someone trying to see how much BS someone will belive. As for how it's started, I think that originally, the borax solution was just a wash or temporary to kill fungi to prevent potential mold and stink.

[@carpemkarzi]

Cool a Christmas team up! Nice and damned great video. Stay safe, follow Alex and George’s advice and stay hydrated- you, your tree and your pets

[@MJTVideos]

Borax and boric acid solutions when applied as a spray to wood products can enhance flame retardancy, so I think someone just read a recipe for a flame retardant spray for wood products and then thought that it would work if the tree was placed in the solution. The spray actually works really well, you just have to apply it to the outside 😂

[@Rob_Enhoud]

I thought this was going to be about dusting the tree with borax. It would be a bit messy, but it could look like snow and perhaps prevent fire from spreading on the tree. Inhaling the borax dust ain't great for you though, especially children.

[@AlexDainisPhD]

Oh gosh just the thought of how messy that would have been is making me itch!! You can make borax crystals though... I've made little ornaments from pipe cleaners and a concentrated borax solution that crystalizes and looks like rock candy... maybe next year we dip a whole tree in borax and crystallize it??

[@hedgehog3180]

It definitely wouldn't prevent the fire but it would maybe make it look slightly green so at least it would be festive.

[@prophetzarquon]

There is flame-retardant tree flocking available, & before you ask; no, it isn't pet(/child/anything) safe.

[@feedbackzaloop]

Wait, you don't water your trees throughout the whole celebration season??? What's that 8 days of drying before the test about?

[@garywhite2050]

Yup she mentions that 8 or 9 minutes in. I think it was for effect, worse case scenario 😮

[@feedbackzaloop]

@@garywhite2050 yeah, I ain't buying it: if you leave your tree for over a week unattended, it doesn't really matter if the fire spreads in 20 seconds or a minute.

[@ACSReactions]

We were also a bit surprised to find that even after a week of being dry, the tree that had been in plain water still didn't burn. Goes to show how effective of a fireproofing method regular old water is for a Christmas tree.

[@hedgehog3180]

I think not watering the tree is the norm in most places, I've at least never seen anyone do it.

[@prophetzarquon]

Yeah, tree stands have a water tray built in, for really good reason. Dry trees look & feel sad, leave lots of mess, & are a fire hazard. If the bottom dries out, cutting 1/2 inch off will improve uptake of new water. My Mom has always put candles on her tree (yes, really), & if she starts with a fresh cut tree, & stops watering on Christmas Day, the needles are _almost_ dry enough to burn on 12th Night (Jan 6th). A precut tree is more of a crap shoot, but unless the tree has gotten _really_ dry, steady watering keeps the needles from flaring all at once. Only dry trees, flare up as seen in fire warning videos...

[@ScienceIRL]

Yesss love botanical Christmas science content 🎄🎄🎄

[@michaelpcoffee]

Borax is also a very effective herbicide.

[@DoctorRustbelt]

From a convincing data perspective, oh my goodness, three samples per condition makes data so much more convincing, awesome possums!

[@sammy5576]

"It's got electrolytes, it's what plants crave"

[@garywhite2050]

Carbonaceous Char My next bandname 🎄

[@prophetzarquon]

_The Carbonaceous Period_ rocks

[@zyxw2000]

This might have been relevant with old Christmas light strings, but modern light are either LED, or if incandescent, contain a fuse in the plug. Trees rarely catch on fire anymore. If your whole apartment is on fire, the tree isn't your only problem.

[@Petch85]

I loved the videos you are making at the moment. They are super good. Please keep that up. Maybe this video is a little late for this year. But maybe the algorithm will pick it back up next year 🤞.

[@Noneblue39]

Love a good ole design of experiments

[@dagordon1]

Great work, this is like Mythbusters for chemists! Really like this one and the real sugar/glucose-fructose soft drink one - I sense inspiration from sports drinks🏈🥤🐊

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Water is the best fire-prevention chemical! (Yes, water is a chemical.)

[@hedgehog3180]

Water has nothing on asbestos.

[@Rungus27]

In the lumber scenario, wouldn't the christmas tree equivalent be spraying the tree with a boric acid solution aerosol and coating the tree? Also, it seemed that the dry boron tree's twigs didn't burn down to "glowing orange nothing" like in the regular dry tree but remained charred and black like it was supposed to? The % weight loss of the remaining tree chunk to starting tree weight would've told us if the burning was suppressed at all possibly? They seemed visually different but it wasn't on screen for very long.

[@hedgehog3180]

That difference can easily be explained by the lack of pine needles on the borax tree. Wood itself doesn't ignite readily so you need a quite strong and continous flame to actually get to catch fire, that's why whenever you want to start a fire you have to build up from small twigs and you might need to start with paper. So there simply wasn't enough fuel for the wood to really catch fire in the Borax tree.

[@mikekent9488]

I love this. Thanks for sharing

[@hedgehog3180]

I bet the borax formed a salt that blocked water uptake and that's why the borax trees wilted so quickly. This of course also effectively dried the tree thus making it way more flammable. Plus this never had a chance to work since the thing that burns quickly when a pine lights on fire are the pine needles themselves, not the actual wood and the pines obviously cannot be made fireproof in the same way the wood can be.

[@Jack-c2d8w]

I love that my German friends have the pyromaniacs' tradition of decorating their Christmas trees with candles and then light them. Yes actual real flames among their trees 😂 They used to do the same in Norway but now opt for electric candles as decorations instead

[@fred1barb]

I stopped the video when the first tree was set on fire to make what I think is an obvious point about the treated trees. When they begin to look bad people are likely to take them out of the house, thus reducing the total time during which they might create the hazard of a house fire. Historical note- back before the military adopted Nomex, fight suits were made of treated cotton. Washing them reduced the effectiveness of the flame retardant, so every 6 mos or so the suits were re-treated by soaking in a mix of boiling water and boric acid. Any weight change was not perceptible.

[@douglasboyle6544]

Tree can't burn well if it's got no needles.

[@vansolo12]

Just cover it in Oreos

[@sean..L]

Just wanted to note that pine trees are just better at retaining water than spruce.

[@GudMeuws]

9:38 awww damn, It’s a new Starbomb!

[@theunknown4834]

Do you have the raw data for the test?

[@BrandEver117]

One solution for preventing a dry tree is only having it up for a reasonable amount of time...if you have it up for six weeks, that's way too long.

[@soundspark]

Who'd have thought a chemical used to kill insects would also kill the tree...

[@user255]

But it got what plants crave: It's got electrolytes!

[@thekaxmax]

Tldr: borax might slow fire but it does serious damage to the tree.

[@95rav]

The idea of boron is to apply it topically.

[@maxmusterman3371]

My guess: The brown tree wins!

[@ScienceRaven1138-du1mw]

If you mix borax with water and spray it then it would have more of a protective shell IMHO and if you spray it with silicone that would be ok and if you get commercial fire supressor it would be the best option for risky venues. , just keep the base in water.

[@corykathol1868]

So if we Christmas trees with borax they would either have more water in them, if water is available, or drop their combustible material quicker making them safer right? That might be able to be seen as a win - win. But does not make for a longer lasting nice tree.

[@joer9276]

Should have tried Brawndo.

[@Wildblood]

I did not know Americans used dead trees for Xmas trees. Why not pot them, use them for Xmas, then plant them after? Nice, soft, deep green leaves are pretty - not sure I'd enjoy sitting looking at a drying-out husk for the holidays.

[@______IV]

The moral of the story: Charlie Brown is safe

[@prophetzarquon]

My Mom does candles on her tree instead of electric lights, & if she starts with a fresh cut tree, & stops watering on Christmas Day, the needles are almost dry enough to burn on 12th Night (Jan 6th). A precut tree is more dried out already, but unless it's gotten _really_ dry, steady watering keeps the needles from flaring all at once. If the bottom of the trunk dries out, cutting 1/2 inch off will improve uptake of new water. Only dry trees, flare up as seen in fire warning videos...

[@mikechiu9767]

7:52 LOL

[@kyokoyumi]

Maybe, *just maybe,* we should make a habit of renting trees for christmas instead: uproot the trees, put them in a bucket you can take home and set up in your house. Keep it watered and when you're done with it, return it to the lot and let them replant it :) A completely living tree will have much less chance of catching fire. Add in LED lights and you'll have NO fires at all. This whole "let's cut down a tree and put it in our home for one day a year" is just ridiculous. Even the tradition it's based on has nothing this fucking wild. Yule logs weren't cut down and if they were, they just happened to be the largest log from the tree you'd cut down for the firewood to keep the house warm that winter. The special log to end the year and bring good harvest for the next.

[@DirtyPlumbus]

Don't let your pets get into it.

[@justincoombs9048]

Why would he dry them for 8 days? Is it common for people to stop watering your tree? Water your trees!

[@mildlyacidic]

Can you guys recommend some good chemistry themed ugly christmas sweaters

[@PXBW]

Awesome

[@ketas]

7:53 scare!!!

[@TheIdeanator]

silikin, silicon, whatever Its when someone drops a silicone to get annoyed.

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

Good test for AI trained on "internet wisdom" which in itself is an oxymoron.😜

[@yoyofargo]

Nah. You're doing it all wrong. Gotta water it with potassium nitrate. The flames are way more exciting that way.

[@geekswithfeet9137]

Are we ignoring the key part of capitalism? The form it’s supplied in for cost reduction is a bare trunk? Like seriously the root cause here is not having a potted tree

[@michaelpcoffee]

'Capitalism' doesn't make potted trees less profitable. The fact that people don't want potted trees does. Should we ban cut trees to force people to buy potted trees? Kinda like making light bulbs illegal.

[@Ibogaman]

Please speak with a stable volume, please.