# What is the opposite of fire??? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313 "2013-04-10T11:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/41 "2013-04-10T15:18:24Z")
We have been down this road before in [2009](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=541870). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/42 "2013-04-10T17:46:28Z")
It’s ǝɹıɟ. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/43 "2013-04-10T17:50:22Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Fire is a form of exothermic reactions. Exothermic means it produces heat. > Endothermic reactions are the opposite of exothermic. They absorb heat. > > Also, if fire is a burning plant, plant did the opposite by collecting sunlight using photosynthesis. So you can take your pick, the photosynthesis, or the lifeform (Eg plant) doing it. The more I’ve thought about your answer, the more I’ve realized: you’re right. And it takes an unusual mind to reverse engineer a physical process – well done. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/44 "2013-04-10T18:20:29Z")
The opposite of fire is…hire. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/45 "2013-04-10T19:02:00Z")
I remember an old SF paperback with futuristic, computer controlled live action RPG play.\* In the mythos that the players had to work with, within their game, fire had been stolen from the gods in ancient times, but the thief had left behind the anti-fire. When they broke into the sacred cave, there was a circular trench, half of which was filled with sticks and larger pieces of wood. A heat and light producing fire burned along the wood, leaving ash behind. A dark and cold anti-fire followed it, turning the ash back into unburned wood. According to the game script, it was a resource for them to use against zombies, later. Unfortunately, they used it on something else first and had to just hack and slash when the zombies showed. - This was old enough to be before: LARPing, holodecks on Trek, cell phones, the internet, and VHS machines. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/46 "2013-04-10T19:26:47Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > A different fire, going in the opposite direction. Maybe it was like an angry fire, who was running to go fight in another fire, away from the first fire. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/47 "2013-04-10T20:22:37Z")
Cold fire? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/48 "2013-04-10T20:37:41Z")
Leave the Dutch out of this. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/49 "2013-04-10T21:24:43Z")
I once wrote a poem that ended with lines on this very subject! …the hard ways we learn that the opposite of fire is not _water_, not _ice_, but _not-fire_. And I called the chapbook The Opposite of Fire. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/50 "2013-04-10T21:34:10Z")
Endothermic reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/51 "2013-04-10T21:45:38Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Anti-fire! > > The opposite would be the reaction going the other way, CO2 + energy -\> C + O2. I don’t know if there’s a pithy name for that, since it’s not the typical reaction direction. I recall the novel _Dream Park_ had that; I don’t recall if they had a better name for it than “anti-fire”. IIRC it was stored in a circle of firewood, with real fire and black antifire burning each other’s ashes; the real fire burning the wood to ashes, and the anti-fire turning the ashes back to wood. _\_ Oops, **Yllaria** beat me to it, except they didn’t recall the title. > [@Yllaria](#): > > I remember an old SF paperback with futuristic, computer controlled live action RPG play.\* In the mythos that the players had to work with, within their game, fire had been stolen from the gods in ancient times, but the thief had left behind the anti-fire. When they broke into the sacred cave, there was a circular trench, half of which was filled with sticks and larger pieces of wood. A heat and light producing fire burned along the wood, leaving ash behind. A dark and cold anti-fire followed it, turning the ash back into unburned wood. > > According to the game script, it was a resource for them to use against zombies, later. Unfortunately, they used it on something else first and had to just hack and slash when the zombies showed. > > - This was old enough to be before: LARPing, holodecks on Trek, cell phones, the internet, and VHS machines. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/52 "2013-04-10T21:54:57Z")
I don’t know the answer to OP, but am happy to respond with a poem I like. [QUOTE=Robert Frost] Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/53 "2013-04-10T22:20:51Z")
Fire is oxidation; so clearly the opposite of fire is reduction. Maybe that’s the way to reduce this argument to its most basic terms. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/54 "2013-04-10T22:42:44Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Fire is oxidation; so clearly the opposite of fire is reduction. Maybe that’s the way to reduce this argument to its most basic terms. Or possibly acidic. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/55 "2013-04-11T21:21:47Z")
Is fire always an oxidation? If so, would the opposite be a reduction? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/56 "2013-04-11T22:18:18Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Is fire always an oxidation? I don’t think so. Chlorine and fluorine can also support combustion. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/57 "2013-04-11T23:26:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I don’t think so. Chlorine and fluorine can also support combustion. However, that’s still an oxidation reaction. This annoyed me very much when I learned about it, but oxidation is most generally defined as the loss of electrons during a chemical reaction. Doesn’t necessarily have to involve oxygen. [Redox - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redox) says: > [@](#): > > Substances that have the ability to oxidize other substances are said to be oxidative or oxidizing and are known as oxidizing agents, oxidants, or oxidizers. > > Oxidants are usually chemical substances with elements in high oxidation states (e.g., H2O2, MnO− > 4, CrO3, Cr2O2− > 7, OsO4), or else highly electronegative elements (O2, F2, Cl2, Br2) that can gain extra electrons by oxidizing another substance. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/58 "2013-04-12T01:44:51Z")
I was never great with Chemistry, but isn’t the opposite of fire a reduction? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/59 "2013-04-14T01:44:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It’s ǝɹıɟ. I applaud you for creative thinking and having a great font. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313/60 "2013-04-14T01:59:48Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I remember an old SF paperback with futuristic, computer controlled live action RPG play.\* In the mythos that the players had to work with, within their game, fire had been stolen from the gods in ancient times, but the thief had left behind the anti-fire. When they broke into the sacred cave, there was a circular trench, half of which was filled with sticks and larger pieces of wood. A heat and light producing fire burned along the wood, leaving ash behind. A dark and cold anti-fire followed it, turning the ash back into unburned wood. > > According to the game script, it was a resource for them to use against zombies, later. Unfortunately, they used it on something else first and had to just hack and slash when the zombies showed. > > - This was old enough to be before: LARPing, holodecks on Trek, cell phones, the internet, and VHS machines. _Dream Park_. VHSs did exist, but the rest you are dead right about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-opposite-of-fire/655313.md?page=2)