3-Pentanone has been measured in the temperature range 1250-1850 K at a reflected shock pressure of 1 atm (±2%) at an equivalence ratio of O2 mixture to fuel concentration of 0.5-2.0 in argon The shock tube ignition delay times vary from 0.875 to 1.3125%. Laminar flame velocities were also measured at an initial pressure of 1 atm over a range of equivalence ratios. As a complement to previous studies, the laminar flame velocity of 2-butanone was also measured, and the relative reactivity of these ketones was compared and discussed. Here, the chemical kinetic submechanism describing the oxidation of 3-pentanone is developed and described in detail; the rate constants for the unimolecular fuel decomposition reaction have been subjected to a nine-parameter fit of pressure decay using the Troe equation. Both compounds dealt with in this work can be used as fuel tracers, so the ignition delay time was further measured by adding 3-pentanone to n-heptane to test the effect of the mixture on the ignition delay time. It was found that the pyrophoric properties of n-heptane were not affected by the presence of 15% 3-pentanone in the fuel, which was consistent with the results obtained with acetone and 2-butanone.