How to Understand how sodium nitrate burns

Ever wondered how science could turn out to be fun? Here's how: take a piece of paper with a mixture of sodium nitrate and sugar. When heated, sodium nitrate releases oxygen and burns sugar. Sugar alone cannot burn fast. If you want faster results, then take sodium nitrate with sulphur and some reactive metals. Add some coal to it for a faster result. This will help you burn some useless pile in quick time.