How Does a Lighter Actually Work?

The first lighter came before the match. In 1823, German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner built a device that ignited hydrogen using a platinum catalyst, a lamp-sized contraption nothing like the one in your pocket.

Three ingredients

• Fuel: butane, stored as a liquid under pressure.
• A spark: from a flint wheel or a piezoelectric crystal.
• Oxygen: from the air around you.

Press the button and a valve releases butane, which turns into gas the moment it leaves the tank. A tiny strike creates the spark, and you have fire.

In the full documentary, we explore ferrocerium, the trench lighters of World War I, and why Zippo's design hasn't changed in 90 years.