You will need:
- Candle with long wick
- Match box
Create a bit of magic with pyrotechnics using simple science.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Ask an adult to help you light a candle. Make sure the candle has a long wick.
- Wait for the wick to catch fire properly and the flame becomes steady.
- Gently ask the adult pour out the liquid wax without blowing out the flame.
- Straighten the candle and slowly blow it out.
- As soon as the flame goes out, take a matchstick and hold the flame near in the smoke of the extinguished flame, near the top of the wick but not directly on the wick.
RESULT
The wick will immediately catch fire again even though you are not touching the matchstick to the wick. This is a result of the capillary action by which the wax is pulled up through the wick and used as fuel for the flame where it reacts with the oxygen in the atmosphere. As the wick begins to heat, the surface area of the wax increases and the flame holds steady as the wax becomes gas. Once the flame is extinguished, the hot wax continues to vapourize for a few seconds in the form of smoke. Consequently, when the flame from the matchstick is placed in the smoke, the vapourized wax being flammable relights the candle.
