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What controls the rate at which candles burn?
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Tue Dec 30 2003
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What controls the rate at which candles burn? A candle burns by operating as a self- sustaining capillary-action wax pump. The wax itself will burn only as a vapour, not as a solid or a liquid. After the flame is established on the wick, the heat of the flame vaporises the liquid wax in the pores of the wick, as well as liquefying part of the solid wax of the candle below. The vaporised wax then acts as a protective barrier around the wick, with the vapours diffusing out through the flame while the oxygen diffuses in. This is why the wick does not burn up straight away. This also explains why candle flames have different colours in them. At the base they are clear or blue as the wax vapour burns to completion, while further inside the flame, where oxygen is scarce, the reaction does not go to completion, resulting in hot...
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