PRIMITIVE LIGHTING 3 



and grandmothers made were of tallow, the modern candle is 

 made of paraffin which is obtained from petroleum. Over 

 300,000,000 paraffin candles were sold in the United States in 

 1913, about two dozen candles for each family. 



Exercise 1. How the Candle Burns 



Place a piece of candle upright on a square of pasteboard after 

 melting a little of the paraffin at the bottom of the candle to make 

 it stick. Light the candle. After it has burned three or four 

 minutes notice what is happening to the paraffin near the wick. 

 Ihis cup corresponds to the bowl of the primitive lamp. To have 

 a perfect cup three things are necessary: (1) There must be no draft 

 in the room; (2) the wick must ndt be too large for the candle; 

 (3) the wick must be in the center of the candle. Is it desirable to 

 have the cup perfect? Why? 



Hold one of the strands of candle wicking in a vertical position 

 and light its upper end. Does it burn readily? Does it continue 

 to burn? Is its flame like that of the candle flame? 

 Is it the burning of the candle wick that is the chief 

 cause of the candle flame? If not, what is it? 



Blow out the candle flame and examine the wick. 

 Is it wet? With what is it wet? Does it remain wet 

 all the time that the candle is burning? He-light the 

 candle and, using two iron nails, squeeze the wick; 

 then examine the nails to see whether or not there is 

 any paraffin on them. The wick is constantly soaked 

 in melted paraffin while the candle burns. But is it 

 the liquid paraffin which burns? 



Re-light the candle and blow out the flame again. Lighting the 

 Notice the smoke which rises from the wick. How candle vapor, 

 long does it continue to rise? Re-light the candle. 

 Hold the lighted match in one hand. Blow out the candle and 

 quickly thrust the lighted match into the column of rising smoke 

 about 1 in. above the candle. What happens? (Fig. 3.) Try 

 the same again. Make several trials to see how far above the tip of 

 the wick you can hold the match and still have the candle re-light. 

 Does it make any difference how long you wait after blowing out 

 the flame before applying the match? Do drafts through the room 

 make a difference? What do you now think it is that burns? 



Have you ever seen a frying pan in which meat or eggs were 

 frying become so hot that the smoke rising from the fat caught 



