The reaction of Methanol, Ethanol etc with Oxygen by combustion is a fascinating but highly dangerous activity. Methanol and Ethanol (and indeed higher alcohols such as Propanol, Butanol and so forth) burden almost explosively in a mixture of oxygen producing extremely high quantities of heat and light energy, very highly exothermic/exogenic reactions.


The picture shows a still taken from a slowed down video of the combustion of 95% ethanol in air using the "Whoosh Bottle" technique.


The combustion is rapid and vigorous according to the following reaction:

The consumption of the Ethanol vapour by the combustion with Oxygen proceeds down the bottle as the photograph suggests, but is certainly a "blink and you'll miss it" event.






These reactions are exothermic and give off heat.  The heat not only produces the flames; it also causes the gas to expand.  The gas is forced out of the narrow top of the bottle, creating the “whoosh” sound.

Speaking of the bottle, demonstrators typically use large polycarbonate bottles.  Glass bottles may shatter, and broken glass is never something you want to deal with in these situations.  Polycarbonate bottles are able to resist the heat from the fast-burning fire, and are more likely to bend or crack than shatter.

Once the demonstrator has a bottle, they pour in a small amount of alcohol and cap the bottle.  The demonstrator may use methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, or a mixture of these alcohols depending on availability.  (The type of alcohol and concentration may give slight differences, but the overall effect remains the same.)  The liquid is swirled in the bottle to coat the inside, and the alcohol evaporates into the bottle’s air.  Excess liquid is poured out to prevent setting fire to the bottle.

At this point, an environment rich in alcohol and oxygen is ready for combustion.  To kick start the reaction, the demonstrator removes the cap and uses a long lighter to introduce a flame at the top of the open bottle.

The alcoholic air ignites, leading to flames and the whoosh sound.