How does a candle work?

A month back, we had our daughter's ninth birthday. She wanted to invite her friends for the party. So, we started to plan  to buy things for the party. I made a list of things to buy which included balloons, decorations, paper plates, cups, cake, candles etc. In the midst of all the preparations I had missed to buy the important item which was "CANDLES". I realized this only, when the cake order was delivered half an hour before the party. So, I started to panic looking for candles before anyone in the family would notice it. I knew it was the main part of the celebration, where my daughter would blow nine candles for the nine wonderful years that passed away, and the tenth one for the good luck. Luckily, I had bought two candle packs for the last year by mistake which came in handy for this year. Oh, my!was I relieved. 

After the party as I was looking at this picture, I remembered how that candle pack from last year came in handy.  I wanted to know the importance of  candles and started to wonder about  "how candles work" and "when were they invented and who invented them". Though I had the understanding that candles make light by making heat and this happens because of the chemical reaction known as combustion, I wanted to check few facts and the following is the result of my reading .  

How does a candle work?

Have you wondered , how the candle works when you lit it for your birthday or when you didn't have electricity supply and you needed to light the candle for some light?...

Candle looks very simple , but works very ingenious. It has two parts to it. One is the Paraffin wax mould and the other part is the wick.
The wick has to work like a towel that can absorb water. The candle wick works through capillary action absorbing the fuel (wax) to the flame.
 When a candle  is lit the heat  melts the wax in and near the wick. Since, wax has a low melting point it instantly turns into hot liquid. The wick absorbs the liquid wax and pulls it upward. The heat of the flame vaporizes the wax, and it is the wax vapor that burns.  The reason the wick does not burn is because the vaporizing wax  produces steam which cools the exposed wick and protects it.







Who invented candle?

History shows that candles were made independently by many throughout the world. In China, it was made using whale fat during (221-206 BC), where as in India it was made by boiling the wax from  cinnamon. Ancient Romans and Egyptians are known to have used candles for more than 5,000 years back using bee's wax.

Nowadays in the market, there are so many varieties of wax that are in use such as  Soy wax, palm wax (from palm oil) bees wax etc.

How does a Trick or Magic candle work?

Have you ever seen a  candle when you blow out , it reignites itself  and wondered how that happened?.

Well the answer is, when you blow a regular candle, you might just see a smoke which is candle wax. The wick ember is hot enough to melt the paraffin wax  but not enough to reignite itself. 

In the trick candles, the wick is coated with fine flakes of metal  Magnesium which can burn at low temperature (430 C or 800F).  The wick ember is hot enough to  ignite magnesium dust, which in turn ignites the paraffin wax and the candle continues to burn normally again.

Interesting Facts 

• In a regular candle when you blow out, you notice a stream of white smoke leaving the wick. This stream is paraffin vapor that has condensed into a visible form. It continues to form as long as the wick is hot enough to vaporize paraffin. If you touch a lit match to the stream, a flame will run down it and re-light the wick. 
• The word 'candle' is derived from the Latin word candere, meaning to shine. 
• Candles that are cold will burn slower. To cool your candle, wrap it in foil or plastic wrap to prevent the wick from absorbing any moisture. Put them in the fridge for an hour or so and light. Be sure not to put them in the freezer or they will break!