How do candles work?
As a child, I always wondered how and why a candle would instantly go out when my mom put the candle lid over the top of it. For this project, my partner and I decided to answer this question by making our own candles.
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For candle making, we needed soy wax, candle wicks, crayons, essential oils, and mason jars to hold our candles. We bought soy wax and candle wicks from a local crafts store, but we made our own essential oils in class. To make the essential oils, we first started by taking the lavender buds and placing them into a super critical carbon dioxide extractor. It takes a day for the pressurizer to produce the oils.
FEB 26 2015 The next day we melted wax in a pot on a hot plate. The soy wax flakes didn't take too long to melt, and we did need to keep adding wax to the pot. When the all of the wax melted, we added crayons to add color for our candles and our lavender extract for scent. The wax was very hot and needed to cool down before we placed them into the jars. My partner and I decided to use a funnel to pour the wax inside and keep the candle wicks from tipping over, While the wax cooled down, we cleaned our area because there was wax almost everywhere.
FEB 27 2015 |
The Chemistry Behind Candles
Candles create light while also generating heat. The light of the candle is caused by a combustion chemical reaction when the candle is lit. The wax reacts with the oxygen in the air and releases carbon dioxide into the air. The candle wick plays an important role in candles. When the candle wick starts burning, the fire rapidly starts moving towards the bottom. Since the wax has a low melting point, it instantly turns into a hot liquid and vaporizes into the air. When the wax vaporizes, this is the scent that is released into the air.
To answer my previous question, a candle uses 3 main types of energy to work efficiently: fuel, oxygen, and heat. When you cover a candle with it's top, you cut off the source it needs to keep burning: oxygen. Covering a candle cuts any air from getting in. The candle uses the rest of the air left in the jar, which is not that much, and burns it up. Since there's no way more air can get in to supply the fire, it burns out.
I had a very fun time creating candles. The process took a little longer than I was expecting, mainly due to the extracting process. The extractor needed a day to pressurize the lavender, and then it took an hour to release the oils and defrost them. My partner and I made good use of the time by melting the wax and prepping during the extracting time. Looking back, I wish we prepped a little better for the candles. Our wicks ended up being a little off-centered and we could have prevented this by attaching it to a weight at the top to keep it straight. At the time, we didn't think it was necessary but by doing this our candles would look a little nicer. Overall, I think my partner and I did a very good job. When we were creating our candles, we received a lot of feedback from classmates saying they loved our project because it made the classroom smell great. As you can see in the photo, the candle works perfectly. I'm glad this project was a success.
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