Combustion
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Combustion (or burning), is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion does not always result in fire, because a flame is only visible when substances undergoing combustion vaporize, but when it does, a flame is a characteristic indicator of the reaction. While activation energy must be supplied to initiate combustion (e.g., using a lit match to light a fire), in general, the heat from a flame may provide enough energy to make the reaction self-sustaining.
Some types of fuel will burn even in presence of other gasses, like magnesium burning in nitrogen or carbon dioxide atmosphere. Likewise, fluorine will cause most materials to burn even at room temperature, and will also burn even materials that are otherwise inert (like silicon dioxide) or are themselves oxidants (like iodine).[1]
