wood

Phase changes in woodQuestion:
My name is John Cato and my chemistry teacher said that some substances
do not undergo phase changes, instead as they are heated they begin
to burn, like wood. I was wondering if wood could be melted if the
process was carried out in an oxygen absent environment.
Thanks.
Answer:
Excellent question! The answer is no. Even if there was no oxygen
present you could not melt wood. It would not burn but it would reach
a temperature at which the molecules started to break up into smaller
molecules -- eventually small enough molecules that they would evaporate
but they would not be wood any more. Some of the material would be
left as carbon.
gregory r bradburn