posted
You know how candle wicks sometimes curve? I was lighting a candle wick like that and the wick straightened up. Does anyone know why?
Posts: 1164 | Registered: Feb 2006
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The side that droops has a loose weave, which supports less weight. Then, when it's lit, that side burns hotter because it gets more oxygen flow, which causes it to stand erect.
Much like hot air gets a rise out of Rush Limbaugh. Or at least, it used to.
Oh, come on. When do I ever give a completely straight answer?
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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"Heat" doesn't rise. Heat refers to a transfer of energy, at least as physicists define it. It's not an agent but a process.
If you have a roughly homogeneous volume of something (say, air), and some of it is hot and some of it is cold, THEN one can say that the hotter air will rise. This is because the hot air is less dense than the cold air, and the bouyant force due to the surrounding cold air is sufficient to push it up.
Concerning the OT, perhaps there was more re-solidified wax in the underside of the curve. When you lit the wick, the wax therein remelted, and the weight distribution reached an equilibrium.
Is the effect repeatable?
Posts: 105 | Registered: Oct 2005
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