When a candle burns, why does the top of wick glow if bottom of flame is hottest? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Entropy and enthalpy change on mixing liquidsChemical equilibrium for simultaneous dissociation reactionsDoes the potential energy increase when temperature is raised?Spectrometry in Chemistry & Flame Test LabWhy does lead nitrate powder on heating starts turning yellow from the top rather than from the bottom?Is the flame temperature of a burning fuel affected by pre-heating the fuel?Why might copper have a lower heat capacity than lithium according to the Shomate Equation?Colored Flames ExperimentWhy does Magnesium burn hotter than other Group II metals?AP Chem Question about Reaction Rate - Confused?
Multi tool use
Identify plant with long narrow paired leaves and reddish stems
How do I stop a creek from eroding my steep embankment?
Why is "Consequences inflicted." not a sentence?
String `!23` is replaced with `docker` in command line
Using et al. for a last / senior author rather than for a first author
Short Story with Cinderella as a Voo-doo Witch
Is it ethical to give a final exam after the professor has quit before teaching the remaining chapters of the course?
Can a non-EU citizen traveling with me come with me through the EU passport line?
How to tell that you are a giant?
How come Sam didn't become Lord of Horn Hill?
What exactly is a "Meth" in Altered Carbon?
How do I keep my slimes from escaping their pens?
When were vectors invented?
How to align text above triangle figure
Withdrew £2800, but only £2000 shows as withdrawn on online banking; what are my obligations?
Why light coming from distant stars is not discreet?
How to react to hostile behavior from a senior developer?
Do I really need recursive chmod to restrict access to a folder?
How widely used is the term Treppenwitz? Is it something that most Germans know?
Why was the term "discrete" used in discrete logarithm?
Should I discuss the type of campaign with my players?
Why are Kinder Surprise Eggs illegal in the USA?
When a candle burns, why does the top of wick glow if bottom of flame is hottest?
Can I cast Passwall to drop an enemy into a 20-foot pit?
When a candle burns, why does the top of wick glow if bottom of flame is hottest?
Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Entropy and enthalpy change on mixing liquidsChemical equilibrium for simultaneous dissociation reactionsDoes the potential energy increase when temperature is raised?Spectrometry in Chemistry & Flame Test LabWhy does lead nitrate powder on heating starts turning yellow from the top rather than from the bottom?Is the flame temperature of a burning fuel affected by pre-heating the fuel?Why might copper have a lower heat capacity than lithium according to the Shomate Equation?Colored Flames ExperimentWhy does Magnesium burn hotter than other Group II metals?AP Chem Question about Reaction Rate - Confused?
$begingroup$
Totally an elementary question.
Staring at a candle, it appears that the bottom of the wick is dark whereas the top glows. However the bottom of the flame (the blue) is the hottest.
Is the reason for this that the concentration of liquid wax is greater at the bottom, offsetting the greater temperature at the bottom?
thermodynamics heat combustion light
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Totally an elementary question.
Staring at a candle, it appears that the bottom of the wick is dark whereas the top glows. However the bottom of the flame (the blue) is the hottest.
Is the reason for this that the concentration of liquid wax is greater at the bottom, offsetting the greater temperature at the bottom?
thermodynamics heat combustion light
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
The yellow part of a flame is coloured by glowing tar/char and wick particles.
$endgroup$
– Karl
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Totally an elementary question.
Staring at a candle, it appears that the bottom of the wick is dark whereas the top glows. However the bottom of the flame (the blue) is the hottest.
Is the reason for this that the concentration of liquid wax is greater at the bottom, offsetting the greater temperature at the bottom?
thermodynamics heat combustion light
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
Totally an elementary question.
Staring at a candle, it appears that the bottom of the wick is dark whereas the top glows. However the bottom of the flame (the blue) is the hottest.
Is the reason for this that the concentration of liquid wax is greater at the bottom, offsetting the greater temperature at the bottom?
thermodynamics heat combustion light
thermodynamics heat combustion light
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
edited 1 hour ago
Kevin Reid
1032
1032
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
asked 4 hours ago
ZARZAR
1311
1311
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
ZAR is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$begingroup$
The yellow part of a flame is coloured by glowing tar/char and wick particles.
$endgroup$
– Karl
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The yellow part of a flame is coloured by glowing tar/char and wick particles.
$endgroup$
– Karl
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
The yellow part of a flame is coloured by glowing tar/char and wick particles.
$endgroup$
– Karl
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
The yellow part of a flame is coloured by glowing tar/char and wick particles.
$endgroup$
– Karl
4 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Because fire is not the same thing as light.
Michael Faraday did a wonderful job of explaining how the candle works, and I direct to look at it (there are also Youtubes videos giving a modern take on this work) if you're interested.
In short, the candle produces light, not because it is hot, but because it is sooty. The particles of soot glow when they are hot (blackbody radiation), and that's what produces light.
If you take a flame where the fuel is very well-mixed with oxygen and the flame that's produced is not sooty, it does not glow like a candle even though it's very hot. This is precisely why Bunsen burners are used in a laboratory. They give a hot but non-illuminating flame that's great for doing analysis.
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The top of the wick glows because it is hotter than the bottom. The wick temperature does not have to be the same as the flame temperature.
For a candle, the wick burning isn't the intended purpose of the wick; light comes from burning wax (more generally: fuel), you want to burn the wax not the wick. Rather the purpose purpose of a wick is to help fuel evaporate by soaking up wax and allowing the radiant energy from the flame to heat the wax causing it to evaporate and burn also.
As wax travels up the wick, it evaporates and less wax is in the wick the further up you go. Eventually the dries up and the radiant energy is heating a wick without any wax. Eventually the wick get so hot at the tip, that it will glow due to black-body radiation.
In summary: though the blue is the hottest part of the flame, the wick can evaporate wax to cool towards the bottom. There is no wax at the top and thus as the radiant energy of the flame causes it to get hotter until it starts to glow.
Extra: I will note that the top of the wick does not burn when lit as the gas around the wick has too little oxygen to burn (unless the wick slumps out side the flame). When you blow out the candle the low oxygen environment of a flame is gone and thus the hot wick will smolder.
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "431"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
ZAR is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fchemistry.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f112891%2fwhen-a-candle-burns-why-does-the-top-of-wick-glow-if-bottom-of-flame-is-hottest%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Because fire is not the same thing as light.
Michael Faraday did a wonderful job of explaining how the candle works, and I direct to look at it (there are also Youtubes videos giving a modern take on this work) if you're interested.
In short, the candle produces light, not because it is hot, but because it is sooty. The particles of soot glow when they are hot (blackbody radiation), and that's what produces light.
If you take a flame where the fuel is very well-mixed with oxygen and the flame that's produced is not sooty, it does not glow like a candle even though it's very hot. This is precisely why Bunsen burners are used in a laboratory. They give a hot but non-illuminating flame that's great for doing analysis.
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Because fire is not the same thing as light.
Michael Faraday did a wonderful job of explaining how the candle works, and I direct to look at it (there are also Youtubes videos giving a modern take on this work) if you're interested.
In short, the candle produces light, not because it is hot, but because it is sooty. The particles of soot glow when they are hot (blackbody radiation), and that's what produces light.
If you take a flame where the fuel is very well-mixed with oxygen and the flame that's produced is not sooty, it does not glow like a candle even though it's very hot. This is precisely why Bunsen burners are used in a laboratory. They give a hot but non-illuminating flame that's great for doing analysis.
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Because fire is not the same thing as light.
Michael Faraday did a wonderful job of explaining how the candle works, and I direct to look at it (there are also Youtubes videos giving a modern take on this work) if you're interested.
In short, the candle produces light, not because it is hot, but because it is sooty. The particles of soot glow when they are hot (blackbody radiation), and that's what produces light.
If you take a flame where the fuel is very well-mixed with oxygen and the flame that's produced is not sooty, it does not glow like a candle even though it's very hot. This is precisely why Bunsen burners are used in a laboratory. They give a hot but non-illuminating flame that's great for doing analysis.
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
$endgroup$
Because fire is not the same thing as light.
Michael Faraday did a wonderful job of explaining how the candle works, and I direct to look at it (there are also Youtubes videos giving a modern take on this work) if you're interested.
In short, the candle produces light, not because it is hot, but because it is sooty. The particles of soot glow when they are hot (blackbody radiation), and that's what produces light.
If you take a flame where the fuel is very well-mixed with oxygen and the flame that's produced is not sooty, it does not glow like a candle even though it's very hot. This is precisely why Bunsen burners are used in a laboratory. They give a hot but non-illuminating flame that's great for doing analysis.
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
answered 4 hours ago
ZheZhe
13.2k12650
13.2k12650
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
I just browsed a bit in the Faraday lecture for children: wonderful!
$endgroup$
– Karsten Theis
3 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The top of the wick glows because it is hotter than the bottom. The wick temperature does not have to be the same as the flame temperature.
For a candle, the wick burning isn't the intended purpose of the wick; light comes from burning wax (more generally: fuel), you want to burn the wax not the wick. Rather the purpose purpose of a wick is to help fuel evaporate by soaking up wax and allowing the radiant energy from the flame to heat the wax causing it to evaporate and burn also.
As wax travels up the wick, it evaporates and less wax is in the wick the further up you go. Eventually the dries up and the radiant energy is heating a wick without any wax. Eventually the wick get so hot at the tip, that it will glow due to black-body radiation.
In summary: though the blue is the hottest part of the flame, the wick can evaporate wax to cool towards the bottom. There is no wax at the top and thus as the radiant energy of the flame causes it to get hotter until it starts to glow.
Extra: I will note that the top of the wick does not burn when lit as the gas around the wick has too little oxygen to burn (unless the wick slumps out side the flame). When you blow out the candle the low oxygen environment of a flame is gone and thus the hot wick will smolder.
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The top of the wick glows because it is hotter than the bottom. The wick temperature does not have to be the same as the flame temperature.
For a candle, the wick burning isn't the intended purpose of the wick; light comes from burning wax (more generally: fuel), you want to burn the wax not the wick. Rather the purpose purpose of a wick is to help fuel evaporate by soaking up wax and allowing the radiant energy from the flame to heat the wax causing it to evaporate and burn also.
As wax travels up the wick, it evaporates and less wax is in the wick the further up you go. Eventually the dries up and the radiant energy is heating a wick without any wax. Eventually the wick get so hot at the tip, that it will glow due to black-body radiation.
In summary: though the blue is the hottest part of the flame, the wick can evaporate wax to cool towards the bottom. There is no wax at the top and thus as the radiant energy of the flame causes it to get hotter until it starts to glow.
Extra: I will note that the top of the wick does not burn when lit as the gas around the wick has too little oxygen to burn (unless the wick slumps out side the flame). When you blow out the candle the low oxygen environment of a flame is gone and thus the hot wick will smolder.
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The top of the wick glows because it is hotter than the bottom. The wick temperature does not have to be the same as the flame temperature.
For a candle, the wick burning isn't the intended purpose of the wick; light comes from burning wax (more generally: fuel), you want to burn the wax not the wick. Rather the purpose purpose of a wick is to help fuel evaporate by soaking up wax and allowing the radiant energy from the flame to heat the wax causing it to evaporate and burn also.
As wax travels up the wick, it evaporates and less wax is in the wick the further up you go. Eventually the dries up and the radiant energy is heating a wick without any wax. Eventually the wick get so hot at the tip, that it will glow due to black-body radiation.
In summary: though the blue is the hottest part of the flame, the wick can evaporate wax to cool towards the bottom. There is no wax at the top and thus as the radiant energy of the flame causes it to get hotter until it starts to glow.
Extra: I will note that the top of the wick does not burn when lit as the gas around the wick has too little oxygen to burn (unless the wick slumps out side the flame). When you blow out the candle the low oxygen environment of a flame is gone and thus the hot wick will smolder.
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
$endgroup$
The top of the wick glows because it is hotter than the bottom. The wick temperature does not have to be the same as the flame temperature.
For a candle, the wick burning isn't the intended purpose of the wick; light comes from burning wax (more generally: fuel), you want to burn the wax not the wick. Rather the purpose purpose of a wick is to help fuel evaporate by soaking up wax and allowing the radiant energy from the flame to heat the wax causing it to evaporate and burn also.
As wax travels up the wick, it evaporates and less wax is in the wick the further up you go. Eventually the dries up and the radiant energy is heating a wick without any wax. Eventually the wick get so hot at the tip, that it will glow due to black-body radiation.
In summary: though the blue is the hottest part of the flame, the wick can evaporate wax to cool towards the bottom. There is no wax at the top and thus as the radiant energy of the flame causes it to get hotter until it starts to glow.
Extra: I will note that the top of the wick does not burn when lit as the gas around the wick has too little oxygen to burn (unless the wick slumps out side the flame). When you blow out the candle the low oxygen environment of a flame is gone and thus the hot wick will smolder.
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
answered 3 hours ago
A.K.A.K.
10.2k62671
10.2k62671
add a comment |
add a comment |
ZAR is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
ZAR is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
ZAR is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
ZAR is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Chemistry Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fchemistry.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f112891%2fwhen-a-candle-burns-why-does-the-top-of-wick-glow-if-bottom-of-flame-is-hottest%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
k8JMhH2iLVDVO QiNBU6hx PvMu E9NE9a9XU6UXYIb8ozIdEJ7Dnt2xV85f,HdH,rMYtVY6E8
$begingroup$
The yellow part of a flame is coloured by glowing tar/char and wick particles.
$endgroup$
– Karl
4 hours ago