Burning Candle Under Water

Grade I

Topic: Burning Candle Under Water

In this activity, students fixed their candles at the base of their bowls. Then they poured water in the bowls so that the water reached upto the tip of the candle. They lit their candles and observed that their candles kept on burning even slightly under water.

What did they learn?

If candle burns in a water-less bowl, it burns normally and eventually consumes the whole candle. This is caused by the action of both heat-flow and a high temperature.

Water has an amazing quality of absorbing heat energy, and because we used cold water even more heat energy was absorbed once the candle’s heat energy dissipated into the water. The heat had much less impact on the outer surface of the candle, resulting in the candle’s strange transformation.