What makes candles lose their wax.. like you light a candle, then an hour later you have this big puddle of wax.. what makes the wax evaporate or whatever? I am curious if I could make a candle that burns forever.. but first I need to know what makes them lose their wax.


-justin

Basically, burning anything is a reaction with oxygen.

Stuff will *always* get consumed

It burns.

The wax cooks off when you burn a candle. I suppose that you could make a candle that burns forever. You would just need a lot of wax and a reeeally long wick.

or a permanant wick that never ends...

So, basically it exceeds the evaporation temp of the wax.. thus evaporating the wax, correct? The wick thing isn't a problem. Never have I had a wick burn out on me.. until the wax level drops, thus burning the wick further and further down.. until it'* gone.


-justin

TINSTAAFL:

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
you're trying to make a perpetual motion machine. which violates at least all of the laws of the world

Its not the wick that burns, its the wax. the wax is the fuel.

Correct, but any wick will eventually deteriorate from the heat and have to be replaced.

Correct.

yep, but that rate is usually slower than the rate of the wax that'* burning. hence the wick seems to burn at the same speed as the wax. The maximum length of the wick is the capillary rise of the wax