So, we have this little wood stove. It is connected to a chimney via a big black pipe. We usually stuff paper/cardboard trash in there and burn it, just to save time and space.
So, I had the thing pretty well stuffed, and I lit the trash like usual. However, the smoke didn't go up the pipe into the chimney. It just sort of started billowing out of the stove itself, through whatever small openings it could find. This never happens during the winter.
At first, I thought things would correct themselves. A short while later, the room filled with smoke.
Long story short, after some ill-fated attempts to blow the smoke outside with a box fan, I ended up dumping water into the stove to put the damned thing out. I thought that the pipe was closed or something, but it wasn't.
My father came home and explained what went wrong. Can you guess?
[spoiler]First of all, it's about 90 degrees outside. But the air in the chimney is much cooler than the air outside. The cool air has sunk with such density that the hot smoke can't rise through it; or more accurately, it finds easier routes. In order to get the smoke to rise, you have to create a stream of hot air, through the cold, by lighting a rolled-up paper and sticking it in the back of the stove.[/spoiler]
Every puzzle has an answer!
