Skip to main content

All About Candles


Candles are a common part of many winter holiday celebrations. Kids are particularly fascinated by these little bodies of heat and light. And with that fascination comes the inevitable questions: why? and how? 

Why doesn’t the fire get bigger?
Why is there water in the candle?
How does it work?

Not long ago, a winter ice storm came along and knocked out our power. After the initial surprise of being plunged into total darkness, it seemed like the perfect chance for us to investigate just how candles work.

What you need:

  • 8″ piece of cotton string
  • metal butter knife
  • paper towel
  • small dish of water
  • yellow or red food coloring
  • 2 taper candles
  • matches or lighter
Most children have seen a candle burn, but you may wish to have a separate burning candle available for observation during the discussion. Ask your students what burns on a candle.

Does the wick burn?



Tie the piece of cotton string to the handle of a metal butter knife. Light the dangling end of the string and watch it burn up the entire string in a matter of seconds. If the wick were the source of a candle’s fuel, it would not last very long! The wick is not the source of fuel for the candle.

Does the wax burn?



Light a match or use a lighter. Hold the flame beside the solid wax of a candle. The wax will melt and drip, but it will not burn. Wax in its solid or liquid state does not burn.

It’s time to shift gears for a moment. Fill a small dish with water and add a couple drops of food coloring. Tear a paper towel into long narrow strips. Dip one end of a strip of paper towel into the dish and watch the colored water climb up the paper towel. This phenomenon is called wicking or capillary action and is the same thing that happens to the wick of a candle. A candle wick is made of absorbent material just like a paper towel.

When the hot flame from a match or lighter is held to a candle wick, the heat melts some of the candle wax. The liquid wax then travels up the wick by capillary action. When the liquid wax gets close enough to the heat of the flame, it is vaporized or converted to its gaseous state like when water is made into steam. The wax vapor is what burns.

Wax vapor burns



To demonstrate that it is the vaporized wax that is fuel to a candle’s flame light a second candle. Blow out the first candle and quickly move the flame of the second candle into the smoke rising from the extinguished wick of the first candle. Hold it about one inch away and you will see the vapors ignite and relight the wick of the first candle!

Be sure to work on a well-protected surface and wear eye protection, if possible, while using flame and hot wax.


This article was originally published in December 2013 by Home & School Mosaics.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fall SWAP progress

I finally have some progress to report on my Ottobre SWAP.  There are actually six garments finished, but I only have pictures of four of them so far. You can see that the brown Maya blouse is lacking buttons. I didn't have anything suitable in my stash, so I'll "have" to go find some at JoAnn's.  I'm thinking something to match the medium pink in the trim, but we'll see. I almost never buy buttons...I usually always make do with what I have on hand. The cream Maya blouse is made of a vintage pillowcase I picked up at Goodwill a while back ($0.50).  It carries that oh-so-fresh smell that I love on my pillows and is super soft. I have a bit left that I'm going to hoard until just the right project comes up. I'm delighted with how dressy the little skirt came out! It's made of chocolate brown stretch velvet.  Miss M thought it was great fun to pet it like a kitten. Modeled by the lovely Miss M...and just before naptime (what was I thi...
11 comments
Read more

Cocoa Krispie Sod House: a model you can eat

Ahh! I just realized I haven't blogged our Adventures in U.S. History since Week 26!!  What happened?!  We've just been plugging away contentedly at our work and are nearing the end of our school year.  So, while I go get myself sorted and whip up the rest of our weekly reviews for you, I thought you might like to see our latest project. A Cocoa Krispie Sod House Ingredients: 6 tablespoons butter 6 cups miniature marshmallows 9 cups cocoa krispies 3/4 cup fancy shredded coconut ("fancy" looks more like grass, but any shredded coconut will work) green food coloring extra butter or cooking spray Also needed: large sauce pan (or large microwave safe bowl) wooden spoon jelly roll pan or cookie sheet waxed paper small glass bowl fork knife clean scrap of cardboard popsicle sticks kitchen shears Directions: Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Don't let the butter brown!  When melted, add in the marshmallows and s...
14 comments
Read more

12-gore denim skirt

The other evening I drafted a pattern for a 12-gore skirt following the instructions found here .  The next day I cut gores from worn out pairs of jeans!  Now I have a gorgeous denim gored skirt. I used 1 1/2-inch wide elastic in the waist and designed it to sit on my hips rather than my true waist.  I’m so short waisted that if I wore bottoms at my actual waist…well, it wouldn’t be pretty!  I plan to reuse some of the original belt loops so I can wear a belt with it…let’s just say that a toddler and an elastic-waist skirt are a recipe for disaster! You can see a few places where I removed pockets before cutting my gores – adds character, don’t you think?  And a skirt without a pocket is simply ill-conceived, so I reused a pocket from one of Hubby’s pairs of jeans.  Now I can carry my cell phone when I run errands!
12 comments
Read more