Tricks of Science

Do other stunts also require a high tolerance to pain? A growing number of people are becoming fascinated with walking on hot coals and it has even become a team-building activity for many offices.

David Willey is a physicist at the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. who performs extraordinary demonstrations like firewalking in an attempt to popularise physics. He explains that walking on hot coals is in fact not such a painful experience because coals – or wood embers that result from burning logs – are poor conductors. The soles of your feet are also pretty bad at transferring heat and when walking on the burnt wood and ashes, they are in contact for such a short time that they don’t get burned. Logs are left to burn for more than 20 minutes in a fire pit before people step into it, so they are not blazing hot.

Most scientists tend to agree with Willey, but some believe that the ability to perform this feat also has to do with your state of mind. Tolly Burkan, the founder of the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education in California, claims that when someone is in a relaxed state, it allows better blood circulation in the feet which is necessary to prevent skin from reaching its burning point. He has said that members of his institute have even walked on a metal grill – which is a much better conductor than wood embers – without charring their feet.

But do people really ponder the physics behind firewalking before they walk on hot coals? Understanding the concept could help relieve fear, but a firewalker also has to have the courage to take the first step, which seems to go against human instinct. Fire and extreme heat is usually a hazard and something we are taught as children not to touch. I am not one of the more courageous ones, so probably wouldn’t be the first to take the risk. But after watching a bunch of my colleagues walking gracefully in a fire pit, I would more comfortably follow suit.

P.S. Even if science can explain these tricks, they should not be attempted by non-experts....

For more information:

Firewalking Myth versus Physics
http://www.pitt.edu/~dwilley/Fire/FireTxt/fire.html

Howstuffworks - How Firewalking Works http://people.howstuffworks.com/firewalking.htm

Firewalking Institute of Research and Education
http://www.firewalking.com/