PURPOSE
The purpose of this
experiment was to find the effect of candle wax hardness on the burning time of
a candle.
I became interested in this idea when I observed a candle in my home and wondered what made it burn for such a long time. I also thought there might be ways to make it burn even longer.
The information gained from this experiment could help candle makers produce longer burning candles. Decorative candles are expensive, so users would want them to last as long as possible. Also people need candles in case of a power outage. They need candles they can rely on to burn as long as the outage lasts.
My hypothesis was the more
hardener that was put in the wax the longer the candle would burn.
The constants in this study
were:
• The size of the candle made
• The lighting device
• The place where each candle is kept
• The air movement in the room during testing
• The air temperature
• Method for making the candles
The manipulated variable was the hardness of candle wax.
The responding variable was the amount of time each candle burned.
To measure the responding variable, I used a stopwatch to determine how long each candle burned.
MATERIALS
|
QUANTITY
|
ITEM DESCRIPTION
|
|
1
|
Block of paraffin wax
|
|
1
|
Hardener
|
|
1
|
Pot
|
|
1
|
Pencil or Pen
|
|
2
|
Pieces of Paper
|
|
1
|
Stop Watch
|
|
1
|
Glass 2 cup measuring cup
|
|
24
|
tea light containers
|
|
24
|
votive wicks with metal
stop tabs
|
|
1
|
measuring scale (triple
beam balance)
|
|
1
|
coffee can
|
|
1
|
wax melting thermometer
|
|
1
|
wooden stir stick
|
|
1
|
deep sided cookie sheet
with tin-foil liner
|
|
4
|
tin foil cups
|
I. Get
materials
1) Block
of paraffin wax.
2) Hardener
3) An old pot to melt wax in (the wax will ruin this pot!)
4) A pencil, paper, and a stopwatch
II. Make
the candles
1) Break
3-4 large pieces of wax and melt in a boiling water bath.
2) Treat
with hardener
a.
Measure hardener in grams using a triple beam balance.
b. Add 4.5g. of hardener to 250ml. of melted wax and name this batch “1x”.
3) Form
first batch into candles
a. Make
5-10 candles in the molds.
b. Label this batch as in step 2.
4) Repeat
steps 2-3 except add 9g. of hardener and label this batch “2x”
5) Repeat steps 2-3 except add 18g. of hardener and label this batch “3x”
6) Repeat steps 2-3 except add 36g. of hardener and label this batch “4x”
7) Repeat steps 2-3 except add 0g. of hardener and label this batch “control”
III. Starting the Experiment
1) When
the wax cools take the wick and cut it to the preferred size (1cm. above the
candle wax)
2) Then get out the pencil and paper and be ready to record
3) Find the stopwatch and set it so that it will record time
4) Separate the groups so that all candles are about three centimeters apart
5) Next light the candles and start the stopwatch
6) When any given candle stops burning write down the time it stopped and which hardener group it was in
The original purpose of
this experiment was to find the effect of candle wax hardness on the burning
time of a candle.
The results of the experiment were that the control group had an average burn time was 150.8 minutes. The group with 4.5 grams of hardener had an average burn time of 155.7 minutes. The group with 9 grams of hardener had an average burn time of 173.8 minutes. The group with 18 grams of hardener had an average of 182.3 minutes, and the group with 32 grams of hardener had an average of 182.7 minutes.
CONCLUSION
My original hypothesis was the harder the wax the slower the candle would burn.
The
results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted, because as shown in
the graph, the candles with the more hardener burned longer than the ones with
little or no hardener. It did appear that there was very little additional
effect above 18 grams of hardener, however.
After
thinking about the results of this experiment, I wonder if the candles’ burn
time would be affected by different types of waxes instead of different amounts
of hardener. I could test beeswax vs. paraffin, paraffin vs. soy wax, or
paraffin vs. gel candles.
I feel
a little uncomfortable knowing that I had some outliers in my experiment. If I
were to conduct this project again I would replicate my experiment except that
I would make more batches of candles for each hardener amount. Although I was
careful this time I would be more careful with watching the time the wax was
melted, the volume of paraffin in the candle molds, the wick placement, and the
air movement during the burning time.
Researched
by ------- Jordan K
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