why is candle flame blue at the core & red at the tip?

Question

we know that as we provide heat (infra red radiations) to any thing light begins to emit from it.first appears red followed by orange n yellow i.e. as we increase the temperature the wavelength of visible light emitted from it decreases.
we are told that the highest temperature in a candle flame is at the tip so how is it so that the core of the candle is blue(of lower wavelength) and the tip red
if i am anywhere wrong in my concept i m sorry for it
please explain this phenomenon to me if u cud

Answer 1

The redness at the tip is due to the glowing of soot ( which is made of carbon ) under the heat of the flame.

when the carbon atoms are heated its electrons get excited due to the energy imparted to them. however the electrons wuold prefer to be in its original energy state hence it can lose this additional energy due to the heat by giving it out as light energy.

And the energy to be omitted by the electrons in the carbon atoms just nice falls into the range of red/orange/yellow light.

this is a highly simplified answer just to explain the red tint in the flame :)

Answer 2

Unfortunately, this is not a phenomenon of light as much as it is a function of burn efficiency. Where the flame appears blue, the fire is hottest, consuming oxygen at maximum efficiency to create no other impurities or emissions other than CO2 and H2O, which are the products of a perfect hydrocarbon burn. Where the flame appears red, there are either impurities produced by the flame or residual from the fuel that reflect light differently and make the flame appear a different color and/or flicker. These other products diffuse at different rates and actually may be combustible themselves, but that portion of a flame is the least pure, usually due to oxygen deprivation or poor quality fuel.

The blue flame CAN be at the tip in other situations. Take a close look next time you light a bunsen burner.

Answer 3

You have competing phenomena here:

While it is true that hotter objects burn bluer than not-so hot objects, that is not what you are observing here.

The chemical reactions of the burning and the impurities cause colors (as folks correctly answered above).

When something like a poker radiates really, really, really hot, it goes from red hot to white hot. I've never seen something so hot that it gave off a deep blue like you see in a gas flame. That would imply that the object was so hot that most of the radiation is in the UV--much hotter than any blast furnace much less a little flame.

Answer 4

If the tip is red and core is blue, it means tip's temperature is less than the core.

Color is the indication of temperature.

Your concept about temperature and color is absolutely correct.

Answer 5

the reason that it is blue is because the temperature is much hotter there and it turns red because it is still hot but not as hot as the core get it?

Answer 6

i'd like to know