What happens when you melt a candle?

Question

What happens when you melt a candle? As in, what happens to the wax where does it disapate to?

Answer 1

I am pretty sure it evaporates in some way. Possibly to some sort of gasious state.

Answer 2

I think you want to ask what happens when you burn a candle. The cotton wick ignites. The heat melts the wax immediately under the flame to a liquid. The liquid wax permeates the cotton wick, wets the wick, and flows up toward the tip of the wick. (Many times in your career you will hear of a wicking effect as increasing the flammability of things.) The liquid wax burns to carbon dioxide and water (plus a lot of black soot and yellow light). As the wax is burned, the candle grows shorter. The top-most, most exposed part of the wick chars to carbon, which then burns away from the flame beneath.

Answer 3

it just melts and then the wax is left.
but if you are taking about burning a candle, then the heat of the flame will break down the wax into hydrocarbons and other stuff that will burn and go into the air, but not all the wax will burn some will melt, flow and get left behind.
God bless,
gabe

Answer 4

candlle wax is a by product of petrolieum. as it burns it will very slowly evaporate.