Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Chemistry => Topic started by: paul.fr on 05/03/2007 12:51:27
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It's just entering birthday season, and i am thinking about candles.
you can buy little candles that relight themselves after you blow them out! Why is that, and how do they work?
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before a Magic Candle Expert passes by ..me would like to speculate !
I speculate that there are two incendiary devices within a magic candle. One...a regular wick for the flame and alongside it..some kind of firework/fuse thing that then re-ignites it.....Presumably it's truly extinguished with an oxygen deprivation device of some sort !
Anyway.....that's my take on it .
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I am not sure on the why's or hows, but I love trick candles..LOL They are funny! Paul You made me laugh with your comment about it being "Birthday season!" LOL Like our house when I was small we had a number of them in August! LOL
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Hi Karen.
Don't you just hate bithday season, luckily they only come once a year...unless you are the Queen, god bless her, then you can have two.
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Hi Karen.
Don't you just hate bithday season, luckily they only come once a year...unless you are the Queen, god bless her, then you can have two.
You do realise you'll have to explain that one to our American chums !!...and remember...they are American.. and most of them are girlies !!..keep it simple !! [;D]
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Well I love birthdays but they don't love me, I seem to be getting older and more wrinkled..LOL
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Birthdays hate me too......Lets remember the premise of this thread which is Pauls excellent question which I have expertly speculated upon [;D]
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Here this was taken directly from this link!
http://science.howstuffworks.com/question420.htm
"The key thing about a normal candle that is important to a trick candle is the moment after you blow out the candle. Normally there is a burning ember in the wick that causes a ribbon of paraffin smoke to rise from the wick. That ember is hot enough to vaporize paraffin but it is not hot enough to ignite the paraffin vapor."
"The key to a re-lighting candle, therefore, is to add something to the wick that the ember is hot enough to ignite. That way the ember can ignite this substance and the substance can then ignite the paraffin vapor. In the links below, the most common substance mentioned is magnesium. Magnesium is a metal, but it happens to burn (combine with oxygen to produce light and heat) rapidly at an ignition temperature as low as 800 degrees F (430 degrees C) (aluminum and iron both burn as well, but magnesium lights at a lower temperature)."
"Inside the burning wick, the magnesium is shielded from oxygen and cooled by liquid paraffin, but once the flame goes out magnesium dust is ignited by the ember. If you watch the ember you will see tiny flecks of magnesium going off. One of them produces the heat necessary to re-light the paraffin vapor, and the candle flame comes back to life!"
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Hi Karen.
Don't you just hate bithday season, luckily they only come once a year...unless you are the Queen, god bless her, then you can have two.
You do realise you'll have to explain that one to our American chums !!...and remember...they are American.. and most of them are girlies !!..keep it simple !! [;D]
Hmph!!! You must be punished! [;D]
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Many thanks, Karen.
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You are welcome,is there anything else I may be able to assist with? LOL It was an excellent question and I did not know anything about magneseum burning at lower temps, or the others they mentioned on the web page!
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Now you mention it, i do remember burning, well throwing, magnesium in to the bunson burners flame. For any kiddies out there, this is not cool, i did witness one of my classmates having his hair set on fire doing the same thing.
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Yikes thats scary!! I hated science and never paid attention.. what a shame!! Glad you were alright, what about your friend?
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i've just set fire to a magic wand , a magic top hat, a magic bunny rabbit and a magic carpet !............extinguishing them did not make them return to fire luff.......how come ?
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you forgot your magneseum!LOL
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i've just set fire to a magic wand , a magic top hat, a magic bunny rabbit and a magic carpet !............extinguishing them did not make them return to fire luff.......how come ?
Which trick were you trying to perform?
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LOL!
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Yikes thats scary!! I hated science and never paid attention.. what a shame!! Glad you were alright, what about your friend?
from memory, he had some nasty burns on his head. i think it happened due to the amount of magnesium thrown and the length of his hair, long hair on guys was popular with some metal heads.
this put his hair close to the flame
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you forgot your magneseum!LOL
I could not find any magnesium so I found a model of a Museum and attached it to a magnet !!...surely this was good enough !!
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i've just set fire to a magic wand , a magic top hat, a magic bunny rabbit and a magic carpet !............extinguishing them did not make them return to fire luff.......how come ?
Which trick were you trying to perform?
Wellllll *sheepy blushes*...no trick really....me just luffs burning stuff !!
*note: this site does not condone the burning of stuff unless it's stuff that is meant to be burned*
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you forgot your magneseum!LOL
I could not find any magnesium so I found a model of a Museum and attached it to a magnet !!...surely this was good enough !!
I love how your mind works... so like mine LOL.. You guys have a great day sleep well tonight I won't be back on until around 2:00 am your time.. behave your selves.. Neil, keep an eye on that topic for me ok? Have a great day Paul Neil and everyone else!
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You too Karen mam...have fun with the bra..erhmm kids !!
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Thank you I did! And how was your day! You did not set anything on fire did you Kind Sir? LOL