Why sawdust catches fire when conc nitric acid is adder?
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Saw dusts by nature is highly flammable material. Saw dusts support combustion, because of its small particle size with a large surface area to volume ratio thereby making the combined surface area of all the particles very large in comparison to a dust of larger particles. Since burning takes place at the surface it can react with oxygen faster because of its large surface area.
Nitric acid which is a strong oxidising agent and known to react violently with organic carbon helps and contribute to the combustion of saw dust.by enabling the particles in contact with nitric acid in achieving the self ignition temperature.
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