system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why does fire always look disconnected from its source?
gpt
This is because if the fire is being burnt off of wood, the wood is breaking down into a gas, which then fire will burn off of the gas coming off the wood a few millimeters off the wood. The burning of the wood itself creates embers which is the actual burning of the physical element of the wood.