What color flame does burning paint thinner have?

My nosy mom thinks the neighbor is allegedly burning evidence of their alleged meth lab.

She said the flames were big and blue and came from a rectangular can (like paint thinner does).

Anyone know?

call the police anyway, as im sure burning that stuff violates some environmental law.

Your neighbors ARE probably cooking meth.

Though, burning paint thinner is a REALLY smart idea, I do it all the time, so I can't answer your question.

...Aren't you a chemistry teacher?

Don't ask, don't tell?

Tell your mom to quit being nosy or tell her to move out of the ghetto.

Oh no, just sentence structure and sarcasm fail.

I don't don't it ... wouldn't do it. (at least not without a gas mask)

This reminds me, I need to catch up on Breaking Bad.

New ep in 20 mins!

S3 premiere was yawn, but last episode was good. Expect this one to be good too!

No.

I already told her the first part. Her neighborhood isn't the ghetto, so that didn't apply.

But see, she's ASSUMING it's paint thinner, because all she knows for certain is it was a large (gallon size) rectangular can, and paint thinner often comes in that size can and Google says it can be used to make meth.

I knew alcohols burned blue as well as butane and it's relatives. But that was all I could think of that burned with a blue color. Well, and copper.

Burning meth lab gear would be pretty pointless since most of it wouldn't burn or melt anyway. Except for some of the chemicals, which you really wouldn't to burn anyway.

Copper burns green.

And I'll tell you what color paint thinner burns the next time I go out of a smoke. We have some in the garage. I'll pour a little bit into a metal pan and light it.

The substance burning isn't the only thing that determines the color of the flame. For example, Bic lighters are butane and burn blue at the bottom but yellow at the top. That's because, when oxygen deprived, burning butane results in carbon. The yellow tip of the flame is burning, glowing carbon. A butane jet lighter on the other hand, has ample oxygen and burns completely clean, leaving only CO2 and H2O, and the flame is blue.

Emon, you can take your science and get the **** out.

I've gotten into arguments with people who see me lighting cigars with a cheap jet lighter, claiming it imparts poor flavor. Little do they seem to know, butane lighters are probably the cleanest way to light a cigar!

Yeah, you've got to love the idiots who have seen Hellboy and think the only way to light a cigar is with a wooden match.

Even if you use a Zippo, which absolutely does burn leaving a ton of soot, I doubt there's enough to taste after the first few puffs.

It's virtually unnoticeable. I use a Zippo to light all tobacco products (with the exception of pipe, because that's nearly impossible), and you can't tell a difference.

Anyone who says you have to light a cigar with a specific type of lighter/match is an idiot, and should be told so. I had a friend who used to go nuts on me all the time over that crap. I smoked Padron Anniversarios (they're about $300 for a box) and I lit them with my Zippo. He was always all "you're just wasting that cigar." And to that I would respond "I'd only be wasting one if I ever gave it to you."