Stainless steel tubing can burn in pure oxygen or fluorine if it gets hot enough.

• A. False
• B. Only in pure oxygen
• C. Only in fluorine
• D. True

Answer: (D)

The idea here is that burning a material depends on having a strong enough oxidizer and enough heat to reach ignition. In pure oxygen, the amount of oxygen available for reaction is far greater than in ordinary air, so oxidation can proceed much more rapidly. That means stainless steel, which is designed to resist corrosion, can still burn if it’s heated to a high enough temperature in a pure oxygen environment. Fluorine is an extremely powerful oxidizer and reacts with metals very aggressively, often causing ignition or sustained burning when metal surfaces are exposed to it and heat is present. Because both pure oxygen and fluorine can supply the oxygen needed for rapid combustion, stainless steel tubing can burn under those conditions if it gets hot enough.