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Friday 23 November 2012

The Flame Stays Down


Question: How to make a flame stay down?

Hypothesis
You can make a flame stay down by blowing it or put something cold over the top.

Equipment
Candle
Kitchen sieve

Method
1.First light the candle
2. Then hold the sieve over the flame

Observation  
We observed that  the flame did not go through the sieve.

Result
The flame stayed down and did not go through the sieve.


Explanation
Wax can burn only when it turns into vapour and mixes with oxygen.A candle flame is wax vapour burning. There is wax vapour rising through the wire net when the sieve is held in the candle flame, but there is no heat on the side of the net to set it on fire, as the heat of the candle flame is conducted away by the metal of the sieve. The flame would have passed through the metal lattice only if the lattice had been made red hot through strong heating.