Candles Essay, Research Paper

My science Report

My science question is: “Do the different types of candle scents affect the amount of time the candle turns into liquid?” I am going to take four different scents of candles, strawberry, cinnamon, pear, and honeydew, all the same size, and do my experiment. My dad, mom, brother and I will all light the candles at the same time and wait to see how long they take to burn. I will record all of the information.

I think that all of the candles will burn in the same length of time regardless of the scent. The scent is only there for the smell. I think that the candles will burn in a period of one hour and 45 minutes. The candles will all be burning under the same conditions.

Why I chose this experiment is because I love candles. It interests me how there are so many different types of waxes such as beeswax, paraffin, cerumen, and tallow. Also all the different sizes, they go from the height of 2cm. to the height of maybe a foot or two. It is also weird how some candles burn in minutes and others is seems like hours. I love all of the different scents like, strawberry, cherry, plum, orange, pear, lemon, apple, honeydew, cranberry, grape, and cinnamon etc. And this is why I want to know if the different scents of the candles change the amount of time they take to burn.

I took four candles, all the same size, but in four different scents. I measured the candles and the height is 5 cm., the width is 3.5 cm. and the wick is 1/2cm. Then I asked my family to help me light the candles. When we lit the candles, my dad lit the honeydew candle, my mom lit the cinnamon candle, my brother lit pear candle and I lit the strawberry candle. When we first lit the candles, my dad thought his was going to win because it dropped the first dot of wax. But I wasn’t so sure because it appeared like it was slowing down. After my first test was completed the results were as follows: Cinnamon came in first at a time of 1 hr. 48 min., Strawberry came in second at a time of 2 hrs. 40 min., Honeydew came in third at a time of 2 hrs. 48 min. and Pear came in fourth with a time of 5 hr 31 min. I was amazed at the big time difference. I never would have thought it was possible. My family helped me to start my second try at this experiment again. We all lit a candle, and I started the timer once again. The results were as follows: Honeydew came in first at a time of 2 hrs. 48 min., Strawberry came in second at a time of 3 hrs. 02 min., Cinnamon came in third at a time of 3 hrs 24 min. and Pear came in fourth with a time of 4 hrs 30 min. Again there was a big difference in the time it took each candle to burn.

My dad and I looked up information on the Internet about candles. We found out that candles have different flash points. A flash point is the temperature in which a candle can ignite with a type of open flame. The flash point should be at least 170 degrees. My dad and I think that if it is higher then 170 degrees it should burn faster and if it is under 170 degrees then it should burn slower. Although it didn’t make sense that honeydew, cinnamon, and pear are at 200 degrees and strawberry is at 150 degrease. Pear should have the lowest degrease according to the flash point. The first time pear took 5 hours and 31 minutes and the second time it took 4 hours and 30 minutes. Cinnamon, strawberry, and honeydew took in between 1 hour and 48 minutes and 3 hours and 24 minutes. This experiment has shown me that there is a lot more to learn about candles than I expected. It is very interesting, and I think I am going to do a little more experimenting!

Tests

Scent Time

Test one Cinnamon 1hr. 48min.

Strawberry 2hr. 40min.

Honeydew 2hr. 48min.

Pear 5hr. 31min.

Test two Honeydew 2hr. 48min.

Strawberry 3hr. 2min.

Cinnamon 3hr. 24min.

Pear 4hr. 30min.

Bibliography

1. “Candle wax.” Cinnamon buns fragrance oil. On-line. Internet. HTTP://www.candle wax. Com.

2. “Candle wax.” Honeydew melon fragrance oil. On line. Internet. HTTP://www.candle wax. Com.

3. “Candle wax.” Pear glace fragrance oil. On line. Internet. HTTP://candle wax. Com.

4. “Candle wax.” Strawberry fragrance oil. On line. Internet. HTTP://candle wax. Com.