Jumping candle flames | Hey Ray

Candles are useful for many things; light, for instance, they can also make a room smell nice, and they can definitely set the mood, but we are not setting the mood today.

We are going to do science with a candle.  

Before we get to a cool experiment, let's talk about how a candle works. For a flame to stay lit, it needs fuel and oxygen. The wick actually wicks up melted wax and pulls it into the flame. There, it breaks the wax down into wax vapor, which mixes with the flame to keep it burning.  

The wax is the fuel that mixes with oxygen.

This seems pretty simple to keep the candle going, but our experiment will begin when we blow the candle out!  

When the fire is extinguished, there is a little trail of smoke that temporarily remains, and it is what is in that smoke that makes for some cool science.

This is an experiment that uses fire, so make sure a responsible adult is supervising this experiment.  

Once the candle flame is out and you see the smoke, light the smoke with another candle or match.  

You will see the flame travel through the smoke, back down to the wick, and the candle will stay lit!  It almost appears like a magic trick, but there is no magic involved.

So what is happening here?

While it looks like you are lighting the smoke on fire, what you are doing is reigniting the wax vapor that is still vaporized in the air.  The fire travels along that vapor until it hits the wick, or the original fuel source, causing the candle to light again.

And there you have it, a quick candle experiment that all the kids will think is "lit"...get it?