Squeezing a gas generates heat, and if you can squeeze the gas fast enough, you can use the thermal energy generated to light something on fire! In this demo, I use this phenomena to ignite a bit of cotton fluff, which burns spectacularly! The process you see me demonstrate is technically called adiabatic compression, because the gas is squeezed so rapidly that none of the heat that’s generated can leave the system. Internal combustion engines (both gasoline as well as diesel engines) use adiabatic compression to ensure the fuel and air mixture injected inside engine cylinders combusts rapidly and energetically so that the vehicle can generate sufficient power to get you where you need to go! #chemistry #chemteacherphil #thermodynamics