29 October 2008

Candle technology


A 5-minute science video. Nothing earth-shaking, certainly. This fits more into the category of "you learn something every day." What you might learn (if you don't know them already) are two things:

1) Why does the wick of a candle curve? What problems might occur if the wick went straight up?

2) When you blow out a candle, there is a wisp of white that rises from the wick. That's NOT SMOKE. What is it? I remember decades ago having fun seeing how far down that wisp a flame would travel if you put a lighted match at the top. Now I know why it happens.

Corollary to #1 - go to Wiki (there's a subtle pun there...) and learn that the original candle snuffers were NOT meant to snuff the candle.

Does the video remind you of something on television? Watch Mr. Wizard perhaps? Funny you should mention that...

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