Starting a fire with the sun
On November 09, 2007 in General Information
Stuck in the woods and need to start a fire?
Aside from matches, a lighter, or flint/steel, the sun is a great way to start a fire or heat something up.
You can use a Fresnel lens, which are also used in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants to produce energy. I would explain how they came about, and work, and all that good junk, but wikipedia has an article about it which I linked to above. Obviously something scientifically detailed like the wikipedia article and this one from howstuffworks.com can explain this stuff a lot better than I can.
You can also use a coke can and a bar of chocolate like this site, but this other site says that polishing the can with fine steel wool works best. “Polish the can bottom using 0000 steel wool - that is the finest grade. This will take just a few minutes of rubbing.”
This other site shows how to use a magnifying glass, water, or a soda can to start a fire.
Have fun burning stuff!
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