Try this at your next birthday party - or anywhere you have a candle. It is such a simple "trick" but one your audience will want to see again and again.
YOU WILL NEED
- A candle - A match or lighter - A little showmanship
THE EXPERIMENT:
Light a candle. Ask your audience if they think you can blow out the candle and light it again WITHOUT touching flame to the wick.
After meeting their skepticism with an air of professional detachment, gently blow out the candle and quickly lower the lit match or lighter into the column of smoke rising from the wick. As the flame approaches the wick, you should see the flame "jump" to the candle and the wick will be relit.
HOW IT WORKS:
To understand the science behind this "trick", you need to know that there are different kinds of smoke. While a candle is burning, any smoke that it produces will be black. The black smoke is made up of tiny particles of carbon that are not burned up in the flame.
When you blow out a candle, you get smoke that is white instead of black. This white smoke is made of the unburned vapor from the hot wax. The melted wax has gotten hot enough to vaporize and form a flammable gas that would normally burn to produce the flame. Since it is not hot enough to catch fire, instead it rises from the candle. The vapor in this white smoke is very flammable. When you bring the match into the vapor, it burns. If the wax in the wick is still hot enough, this added heat will be enough to relight the candle.
As with any flame or heat source, please ensure children are properly supervised.
