We love a good science experiment and we also love a good magic trick. When we find something that falls into both categories it quickly becomes one of our favorites. (especially when you can do it with things you already have at home.) We found out about the combustibility of candle smoke awhile ago but we still do it every few weeks because it's so cool.
Things you'll need:
a candle - paraffin works best
matches or lighter
Light the candle and let it burn for a minute or two. Blow it out and let the smoke settle so it is streaming up from the wick. Light your match or lighter and touch it to the streaming smoke a few inches from the wick and watch the flame race down the smoke to relight the candle.
Why it works:
Fire needs three things to work: Oxygen, Ignition and Fuel. There's plenty of Oxygen and your match or lighter is the ignition source, but here's where things get science-y. When a candle burns, the wick is kind of like a focus point for the flame and the paraffin is the fuel source. When you blow out the candle the smoke contains quite a bit of the vaporized wax. Adding the flame back to the smoke allows the fire to trace it's source back to the wick. If you start to far away the fuel will burn out before it reaches the wick, so it may take a few tries to get it right.
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