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+86 311 8919 6939
When you light a candle, the wax slowly melts and seems to disappear. You may be wondering what happens to candle wax when a candle is burned, candle suppliers share with you.
When you burn a candle, it changes the physical state of the wax from a solid to a liquid to a gas. The basic burning process of a candle is as follows:
The candle wax starts as a solid. Lighting the candle wick triggers a physical change in the candle wax. When you light the wick, the flame generates heat.
As the flame continues to heat up, it begins to melt the wax around the flame. In chemical terms, the melting of wax is a physical change that turns a solid into a liquid. As the heat continues to heat and more wax melts, the volume of liquid wax surrounding the wick slowly increases and produces more thermal mass. In other words, it produces more heat, which further melts more wax.
The melted wax is now in liquid form and is drawn up through the wick. This provides fuel for the flame to burn steadily, which generates more heat to melt more wax. The melted wax is also very hot, which causes more wax to melt. As more and more of the solid wax melts and becomes liquid wax, the wick is completely saturated by the steady absorption of the liquid wax. This creates a continuous cycle of heat, molten wax and liquid wax absorption through the wick, which fuels the flame.
This process is known as capillary action, or, "the movement of liquid along a solid surface due to the attraction of liquid molecules to solid molecules." This means that the heat vibrates the molecules and the flame attracts the liquid to be absorbed by the wick.
As the liquid wax fuels the flame, the heat rises and another physical change occurs as the heat from the flame and the melted wax brings a small amount of wax to the boiling point. As it boils, another physical change occurs - vaporization. When this happens, the wax changes from a solid state to a gaseous state. The heated gas then begins to decompose into hydrogen and carbon.
In addition to producing hydrogen and carbon, the candle burning process produces water. When the air around the candle is heated, it creates an evaporation process of the water particles released during the melting of the candle wax. This process makes the air around the flame very dry due to the evaporation of water from the candle.
Many variables can affect the evaporation of wax and thus the burn time. Soy wax and beeswax usually have the longest burn times. However, there are other factors that can affect the process that slow down vaporization and make candle wax burn longer.
When a candle burns, it may look as if the wax disappears into thin air. It does not. As the reaction to heat and flame turns the wax from a solid to a liquid to a gas, the wax evaporates into the atmosphere. The candle uses the wax as fuel to keep the flame burning, and when the fuel has completely evaporated, it no longer burns.
The ambient temperature of the burning candle affects the burning time. Hotter temperatures will speed it up, while colder temperatures will slow it down. Candle additives such as fragrances, stearic acid, tallow acid, wick type, and even the candle holder/container are all factors that affect burn time and the rate at which the wax burns and evaporates. Wicks that are too long or too short to burn the fuel efficiently can also affect the rate of wax evaporation.
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