The flame of a candle is a beautiful little light that ****nes on
bright in the dark as a symbol of hope, and truth. And yet, behind the
symbolic im****tance of the candle, there is a chemical truth that is
inescapable. It is the life of the fire, and the nature of the candle,
and it determines whether the flame ignites and how long it lasts when
it does.
A candle is composed of a wick, which is embedded in some sort of fuel
which will burn when it comes in contact with a flame. Before a candle
is lit, the wick is immersed in this fuel to allow it to catch flame.
When a fire is brought in contact with a wick soaked in fuel, the heat
melts the fuel, and then va****izes it, allowing it to combine with
oxygen in the air. The result is a fire which is just powerful enough
to keep itself lit, without consuming its fuel too rapidly to be of
use.
The stasis which allows a flame to remain in tact comes from the fact
that the heat of the flame on the wick is enough to melt the fuel, or
wax, of the candle. Once the fuel has been reduced to liquid form, it
is able to move up the candle wick via a process known as capillary
action. Once the wax fuel is in the wick, it can supply the flame with
the raw materials it needs to keep burning brightly enough to melt
even more wax....
http://groups.google.com/group/waterforfueld
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