What is it that actually burns in a candle?

Answer 1

Prior to the candle being ignited, the wick is saturated with the fuel in its solid form. The heat of the match or other flame being used to light the candle first melts and then vaporizes a small amount of the fuel. Once vaporized, the fuel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form a flame. This flame then provides sufficient heat to keep the candle burning via a self-sustaining chain of events: the heat of the flame melts the top of the mass of solid fuel, the liquified fuel then moves upward through the wick via capillary action, and the liquified fuel is then vaporized to burn within the candle's flame.

The burning of the fuel takes place in several distinct regions (as evidenced by the various colors that can be seen within the candle's flame). Within the bluer, hotter regions, hydrogen is being separated from the fuel and burned to form water vapor. The brighter, yellower part of the flame is the remaining carbon soot being oxidized to form carbon dioxide.

Answer 2

When you light a candle, the wick starts to burn first. Then, as the wax melts, it is drawn up the wick where it vaporizes and then burns.

So wax vapor is what burns, and the liquid wax keeps the wick from burning by cooling it. Only the very tip of the wick burns as this happens, so the wick lasts a long time due to cooling by the wax.

Answer 3

The wick is not what's burning in a candle.

The actual fuel that feeds a candle's flame is the melted parrafin wax. The heat from the flame melts the wax which is pulled up through the wick (in a sort of osmosis).

True the wick itself will burn and evaporate off, but the true fuel is the wax itself.

Answer 4

ifit was only the wick that was burning it would burn to ashes in a few seconds...the heat make sthe wax melt and then the warm wax gets absorbed within the wick - this then form a basis and shield so taht the wick does not burn out immediately...so its like teamwork..the wick cant do it without the melting wax and the wax can do it without the heat...its a 3 some effort. if it was all up to the wick you will have a 30 second burning wick ...

Answer 5

The wick provides the source of flame, the light is from the wax vapourising and then the gasses igniting.

So its both the wick and the wax that is burning.

Many years ago, during thre miners stike of 1972/4 I remember a demo of a primtive candle using a wick fitted through a foil coated cork floating in water. it worked - god knows how......

Answer 6

wax is a solid of long chain hydrocarbons and fatty acids. They are held together by very weak chemical interactions, so a little heat will cause it to liquify. The application of a flame to the wick ignites the vapours given off by the wax, causing further melting and capillary movement up the wick.

Answer 7

Real what burns in wax are two thing Carbon and hydrogen. That means wax contains atoms of carbon and hydrogen since it is a hydrocarbon that means it contains only carbon and hdrogen only. So durning burning process carbon combines with ogygen to form carbon deoxide and hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water.

Answer 8

Candle wax is made of alkanes of chain lengths higher than 17. The length is what makes it solid. Its flammable too.

Answer 9

basically, the wax. however, the wick burns up as well. it wourks like this: the wax is melted, and is drawn up through the wick, and as it reachs the top, it also reachs high temp, where the wax is vaporized. this vaporized wax then ignights with the oxygen in the air

(go to "http://home.howstuffworks.com/question267.htm")

Answer 10

carbon in the wax.

the wick holds the heat from the flame and melts the wax into a liquid, then heats it into a flammable gas which fuels the flame to keep it going.