How Does a Candle Burn

As the wick burns down the heat of the flame melts the wax around the wick. … Once the liquid wax gets hot enough, it then turns from a liquid into a gas. The hot gas then reacts with the oxygen from the air and is burned, creating the candle flame that we see.

When a candle burns where does the wax go?

1. You know that candle wax burns down and disappears whenever you light a candle. …
2. Specifically, the heat of the flame turns the wax from a solid to a liquid, and then a liquid to a gas by breaking down the hydrocarbons into separate molecules of hydrogen and oxygen.

Is a candle burning chemistry?

The burning of a candle is a chemical reaction between the wick and the ambient air. When we light a candle, we heat the wick up with a flame that initiates a combustion reaction on the wick, what we commonly refer to as fire.