How to light the flame of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?

1. What substance was used to ignite it?

A: The fuel used is propane with a purity of over 99%. In the history of the Olympic torch, there are more mixed fuels. Propane fuel is used to meet the environmental temperature requirements in the torch relay route. Secondly, color is also a consideration. After propane burns, the flame is orange and the visibility is good. Its main components are carbon and hydrogen. After burning, there are only carbon dioxide and water, and there are no other substances, which will not pollute the environment.

2. How was it lit?

A: From drilling wood to electronic ignition, the way of ignition is more and more advanced, but the principle of collecting Olympic flame is not profound, because only traditional ignition can symbolize the purity of the Olympic flame and the inheritance of ancient Olympic traditions. The only way to collect the Olympic flame is to use concave mirror to gather sunlight and generate a high-temperature ignition fire. The principle of making a fire in concave mirror is simple. In many sunny areas of China, concave mirror is also used to boil water for cooking.

After the flame was lit, it was placed in an ancient kindling jar, brought to the altar in the ancient Olympic venues by the chief priestess, lit the torch of the first torchbearer, and then began the journey to the host city of the Olympic Games.

Because the principle of the equipment is simple, but there are certain special requirements for sunshine, and the priestess only has three opportunities to collect the flame, once the fire sacrifice ceremony encounters bad weather, it is necessary to change the collection time of the flame or use spare fire, which is usually collected in advance during rehearsal. For example, it was cloudy at the critical moment of the fire collection in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, which led to the failure of the fire collection. We had to use the fire collected at the rehearsal ceremony the day before to replace it.

3. Why should it be lit by the highest priestess?

A: This is related to the ancient Greek tradition. In Greek mythology, fire is a sacred symbol of hephaestus and a gift that Prometheus stole from Zeus. Therefore, in the center of every ancient Greek city-state, there was an altar burning with eternal flame, and every household of city-state residents also had eternal flame to worship the goddess Hestia. There is an altar dedicated to Hestia in the assembly hall of ancient Olympia. The sacred flame of the altar is lit by a concave disk or a mirror that focuses sunlight. The flame will never go out. The concave smooth plane can focus the sunlight on the focus, and the priestess can extend the torch to the focus and light it.

4. How to prevent being extinguished?

A: The torch relay of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will last 130 days, with a total mileage of about137,000 kilometers. In this long "journey", the flame will be passed indirectly by each torch. So how can we ensure that the whole torch relay process will not go wrong?

First, let's look at the torch. The torch of Beijing Olympic Games is 72 cm long and weighs 985 grams. It is made of light and high-quality aluminum alloy and hollow plastic parts, and the lower part is sprayed with high-touch plastic paint, which feels light and comfortable and is not easy to slide down. The burning time of each torch is 15 minutes, which is enough for the relay process, because the number of torchbearers and the relay distance are different in each Olympic Games. There will be 208 torchbearers participating in the relay every day. Generally, each torchbearer relays 200 to 400 meters, and the whole journey does not exceed ten minutes.

/kloc-during 0/30 days, 33 days belong to overseas relay. After May 4th, the flame will return to Chinese mainland to continue its 97-day journey on the mainland. In more than four months, the flame will "visit" 3 1 kloc-0/3 cities and regions in China. Needless to say, the geographical environment is very different. It's hard to guarantee that it won't rain or wind. Will the flame of the torch be affected?

Of course not. The torch of Beijing Olympic Games has reached a new technical height in terms of combustion stability and adaptability to the external environment. It can keep burning under the strong wind of 65 kilometers per hour and the rainstorm of 50 millimeters per hour, and the temperature change from the lowest minus 6℃ to the highest 45℃ will not affect its combustion. It is reported that the internal combustion system that the torch is proud of is independently designed and developed by Aerospace Science and Industry Group. Because it involves military technology, torch burning technology is regarded as the core secret of BOCOG.

In addition, the flame height of the torch flame is 25 to 30 cm at zero wind speed, which can be identified and photographed in strong light and sunlight. In other words, friends who can't arrive at the scene to cheer for the torchbearers can see clear flames in front of the TV. This is because the flame produced by propane is bright yellow. When torchbearers run, the flying flame is very eye-catching in different backgrounds. Propane is a colorless, odorless and low-cost fuel, which can adapt to a wide temperature range. In the recent Olympic Games, propane and other mixed gases were used as fuel.

The concept of "Green Olympics" of Beijing Olympic Games can also be embodied in the torch. The torch of Beijing Olympic Games is made of recyclable environmental protection materials, and propane, as a hydrocarbon, mainly produces water vapor and carbon dioxide after combustion, which will not pollute the environment.