Underwater Candle Experiment | Burning Candle Experiment

Can you have a candle burning under water? Well, not totally under water. But you can have a candle burning with the flame under the water level. Don’t be surprised. This is plain science. What we need is a candle, and a glass of water. So, let us try out this underwater candle experiment.

Materials Required

Candle – 1
Glass bowl – 1
Water – enough to fill the bowl

Steps to follow

Light the candle using a matchstick.
Pour a few drops of melted wax inside the bowl.
Put out the candle and stick it firmly into the melted wax.
Wait for a few minutes for the wax to dry up so that the candle is properly fixed.
Now fill water in the bowl. Water level should be almost up to the upper edge of the candle, without touching the wick.
Light the candle again.
Wait for some time. What do you see? Candle continues to burn even after the wick is slightly below the water level.

What we learn

What we saw here was not magic. The candle kept burning even below water level, due to the application of principles of conduction. If you closely watch the candle burning in the water, you will see that the outer portion of the wax surrounding the wick has not melted. This wall of wax prevented the flame from coming into contact with the water. Of course, water will ultimately get through and put off the flame. But it is protected by wax wall for a while.

So, how does this wax wall form? The answer to this is water. Cold water surrounding the candle absorbs the heat from the wax, thereby allowing the wax to remain solid. As the wax did not melt, water did not reach the flame. If we light the candle outside water, wax melts and drips off from sides, and this was prevented by the water surrounding the candle. We never thought that this underwater candle experiment had such simple explanation, right?

So, now you know how a candle can burn almost underwater. Explore such fun activities in our Experiments section.