Fire is an oxidizing chemical reaction that releases heat and light.

The actual
flames that you see moving and glowing when something is burning are simply
gas that is still reacting and giving off light. Plasmas are gases in which a good
fraction of the molecules are ionized. Ordinary flames ionize enough molecules to
be noticeable, but not as many as some of the much hotter things that we
usually call plasmas. (See
http://www.exploratorium.edu/xref/exhibits/flame_speaker.html for a guide to an
experiment that uses the electrical conductivity of a flame caused by its ions.)
http://www.askamathematician.com/2013/05/q-is-fire-a-plasma-what-is-plasma/
https://youtu.be/a7_8Gc_Llr8
In his book, Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Francis F. Chen
notes:
Any ionized gas cannot be called a plasma, of course; there is always a small
degree of ionization in any gas. A useful definition is as follows: A plasma is a
quasineutral gas, of charged a neutral particles, which exhibit collective
behavior. [3]
"The part of a flame that possesses the well-known properties of an electric
plasma is called "flame plasma", and thus not every type of flame deserves this
distinction."[5]
"A candle flame is a plasma, as are all the stars in the Universe".[7]
"A negatively charged sphere of a Van de Graaff generator attracts positive ions
in the candle flame plasma. Although flame plamsa normally moves upwards in
the heated convection stream, it is pulled down towards the sphere as the heavy
positive ions are attracted and pull all other components of the flame down with
them, including low-density negatively charged components." (See reference for
illustration)[8]
"Another type of flames plasma is produced, for example, in rare of molecular
gases, by applying large high frequency ring discharge to the streaming gas. [..]
A flame of very hot (10,000 to 12,000K) excited gas emerges..."[9]
"One of the current interests of flame plasmas in engineering problems is the
magneto-hydrodynamic generation of electricity. Hydrocarbon flames are passed
through a duct across which a strong magnetic field is applied. Electrodes
perpendicular to the field and gas flow, but not necessarily opposite to one
another, represent the poles of a generator which makes use of the principle of
Faraday's dynamo, the copper wires being here substituted by a fast-moving
ionized gas (66)."[10]

Plasma is the fourth state of matter. Many places teach that there are
three states of matter; solid, liquid and gas, but there are actually four.
The fourth is plasma. To put it very simply, a plasma is an ionized gas, a
gas into which sufficient energy is provided to free electrons from atoms or

molecules and to allow both species, ions and electrons, to coexist. The
funny thing about that is, that as far as we know, plasmas are the most
common state of matter in the universe. They are even common here on
earth. A plasma is a gas that has been energized to the point that some of
the electrons break free from, but travel with, theirnucleus. Gases can
become plasmas in several ways, but all include pumping the gas with
energy. A spark in a gas will create a plasma. A hot gas passing through a
big spark will turn the gas stream into a plasma that can be useful. Plasma
torches like that are used in industry to cut metals. The biggest chunk of
plasma you will see is that dear friend to all of us, the sun. The sun's
enormous heat rips electrons off the hydrogen and helium molecules that
make up the sun. Essentially, the sun, like most stars, is a great big ball of
plasma.

Plasma is the fourth state of matter. It differs from solids, liquids and gases in so far as it's
atoms are divided into free-floating 'negative' electrons and 'positive' ions (an atom which has
lost its electron/s). It is sometimes referred to as an ionized gas.

Students are generally taught about only three states of matter, and when Plasma does get a
mention, little importance is assigned. Not only should plasma be added to the list, but the
order should be reversed to put it in first place. The reasons for this will become clear.

The term Plasma was borrowed from blood plasma in order to describe its almost life-like and
self-organising properties.

Plasma sometimes emits light when under the excitation of electrical and magnetic fields. Polar
auroras bear witness to this fact.

Plasma is almost everywhere. At least ninety-nine percent of the known universe is,
in fact, matter in its plasma state! The surface of the sun is plasma; not hot gas,
which is quite a different thing.
Plasma in space consists entirely of ions and electrons, and is thus very energetic or
'hot'. Only when cooled does it form the matter to which we are familiar here on
Earth: solids, liquids, and gases.
Because plasma remains electrically charged in space, it is influenced more by
electromagnetic forces than gravity. In fact space, once considered mostly empty, has
been found to be alive with plasma. Vast flows of charged particles have been
discovered spanning hundreds-of-thousands of light years across interstellar space.
The most familiar examples of electrical plasmas here on earth are neon signs and
lighting, television screens, and electrical arc welding machines. Fire and Lightning
are also forms of Plasma.

What does it do?

Plasma is an excellent conductor of electricity. Because of its free-flowing electrons its

conductive properties far surpass those of copper and gold.
Due to its interaction with electromagnetism, plasmas display a complexity in
structure far exceeding that of matter in gaseous, liquid, or solid states. It has a

tendency to form into cellular and filamentary structures.

These structures derive from the fact that a charged particle flow (or current)
produces a ring of magnetic fields around itself, 'pinching' plasma into multifilamentary strands, as can be seen on both cosmic and more localised scales.
Pictured right is a novelty plasma-lamp typical of those available on the high street

The Earth's plasmasphere is an inner part of the magneteosphere. It is

located just outside the upper ionosphere located in Earth's atmosphere. It is
a region of dense, cold plasma that surrounds the Earth. Although plasma is
found throughout the magnetosphere, the plasmasphere usually contains the
coldest plasma. Here's how it works:
The upper reaches of our planet's atmosphere are exposed to ultraviolet
light from the Sun, and they are ionized with electrons that are freed from
neutral atmospheric particles. The results are electrically charged negative
and positive particles. The negative particles are electrons, and the positive
particles are now called ions (formerly atoms and molecules). If the density
of these particles is low enough, this electrically charged gas behaves
differently than it would if it were neutral. Now this gas is called plasma.
The atmospheric gas density becomes low enough to support the conditions
for a plasma around earth at about 90 kilometers above Earth's surface.

-The modern definition of an element defines it by the number of protons a pure

substance possesses. Fire is made up of many different substances, so it is not an
element.
-Fire is the result of a chemical reaction, called combustion. At a certain point in
the combustion reaction, called the ignition point , flames are produced. Flames
consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen. Flame
color varies depending on what you're burning and how hot it is. Color variation
within in a flame is caused by uneven temperature. Typically, the hottest part of a
flame,the base glows blue, and the cooler parts at the top glow orange or
yellow.Fire emits heat and light. In order for
combustion and fire to occur, three things must be present: fuel, oxygen and
energy (usually in
the form of heat).
-On Earth, gravity determines how the flame burns. All the hot gases in the flame
are much hotter (and less dense) than the surrounding air, so they move upward
toward lower pressure. This is why fire typically spreads upward, and it's also why
flames are always "pointed" at the top. If you were to light a fire in a microgravity
environment, say onJust like wet steam is a multiphase state of matter, both

liquid and gas in two-phase coexistence.

Fire is gas and plasma in two-phase coexistence. Much of the visible flame is gas,
that just happens to be hot enough to glow by black body radiation. Some of the
hotter regions are plasma, with electrons being ionised, and having active
combustion occur.
Fire istelf is not matter, it's a chemical reaction, in which some of the matter wil
change states due to temperature. generally, if you ignite a solid substance some
of it will turn to liquid or gas, but if it isn't hot enough some will remain soild, but
the reaction itself isn't a state of matter.board the space shuttle, it would form a
sphere!
lames are a mixture of combusting gasses, like carbon monixide and methane. As they
combust they do ionize and briefly pass through the plasma state of matter. This is why
flames conduct electricity better than air. This doesn't say much because practically
everything is a better conductor than air.
That said, flame is much too cool to be a stable plasma, as you would find in an electric
arc or ball lightning. It's basically a chemical reaction releasing sound and light, but it's
worth noting that the chemicals do briefly become ionized and technically are a plasma
for an instant during the reaction.
Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. The flame itself is a mixture of
gases (vaporized fuel, oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapor, and
many other things) and so is matter. The light produced by the flame is energy, not
matter. The heat produced is also energy, not matter.

Answer : Fire is heat and light from rapid combination of

oxygen and other materials. The flame, which gives the
light, is composed of glowing particles of burning material
and luminous gases. For fire to exist, a combustible
substance must be present, the temperature must be high
enough to cause combustion, and enough oxygen must be
present to sustain rapid combustion.