Re: Please can you tell me, Is oxygen flammable?

The answer to this question really depends on exactly what we mean by the 
words we use, and especially by the term 'burning'.

A chemist usually takes 'burning' to mean a self-sustaining reaction 
between two substances, an oxidant and a fuel, in which a lot of heat 
energy is given out. It is usually said that the fuel 'burns' and that the 
oxidant 'supports combustion'.

Oxygen takes part in a lot of these reactions, but always as the oxidant, 
never the fuel. So a chemist would normally say that oxygen supports 
combustion, but that it does not burn.

Now I am going to confuse you by taking you on an expedition to Titan, one 
of the moons of Saturn. As we get out of our spaceship, you had better put 
on your spacesuit -- it's quite cold here, and the air is poisonous. It is 
made up of methane and ammonia instead of nitrogen and oxygen. Let's have a 
barbecue! Instead of connecting up a tank of propane gas to the gas burner, 
we will connect up a tank of oxygen. And we can get a nice (but rather 
fierce) flame from our gas jet that looks pretty much like a normal gas jet 
flame. A normal burning reaction is going on. But it looks as though the 
oxygen is burning, and the methane from the atmosphere is supporting the 
combustion. A chemist would, of course, tell you that it is still the other 
way around!