Bunsen Burner

Example of an ignited Bunsen burner.

Today, in my microbiology lab we used Bunsen burners to heat sterilize needles which allowed us to transfer bacteria from culture to culture. I became mindful of the velocity profile that was being displayed by the flame of the Bunsen burner. The burner is attached to a natural gas (primarily methane) line in the laboratory. When the methane is lit it displays the three dimensional, conic velocity profile of the methane flow that is coming out of the natural gas line. The highest velocity corresponds to the part of the flame that has the tallest height which is found in the center.