A Candle in the Wind

In this Activity, students investigate physical changes that occur in a candle to learn how a candle functions and how you can blow it out. This Activity is based on a series of lectures presented by Michael Faraday in the 1850s. Candles can help to illustrate numerous chemical principles, including phases of matter, processes of melting and vaporization, gas-phase oxidation/reduction chemistry, complete and incomplete combustion, several modes of transport (capillary action, diffusion, buoyancy), activation energy (a match), and multiple thermodynamic principles.