# Where does melted Candle Wax go? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 7, 2000, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-melted-candle-wax-go/467 "2000-01-07T14:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![woodja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woodja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodja)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-melted-candle-wax-go/467/21 "2000-01-24T15:11:00Z")
Jinx Perhaps someone who knows more chemistry than I should field this. Initially I was merely making the point that other things besides carbon based compounds burn, and the exhaust produced depends on the constituents, as well as whether it was a ‘clean’ burn. In the case of thermite, ferric oxide acts as an oxidizer , while pure aluminum burns (see formula). Pure magnesium does burns. When I say pure, I mean relatively. Even lab grade chemicals contain impurities, but they don’t necessarily contribute to the reaction (same for candles, of course. There’s other stuff besides wax in even the ‘purest’ candle, and this ends up in the exhaust too). That said, I must admit that I may have made some misstatements. For one, the demonstration involving metals and Bunsen burners is more properly a demonstration of increased energy states and subsequent radiation, rather than burning. I have also seen references to some inorganic burning referred to specifically as oxidation-reduction or redox reactions, while organic compounds burning are referred to as combustion. I’m an analyst/data specialist in a genetics lab, so the specific terminology’s a bit outside my expertise. * * * “I think it would be a great idea” Mohandas Ghandi’s answer when asked what he thought of Western civilization “I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless in has in some way obstructed interstate commerce.” – J. Edgar Hoover ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-melted-candle-wax-go/467/22 "2000-01-25T06:02:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by WhiteNight: > **Take a short candle, either a votive, or a chopped down regular candle, and feed a lot of wax into it. One way [is] to take a candle, chop off the bottom few cms, and pull the wick out of the rest. Use the lit bottom piece to melt the main candle until it fills the bottom of the plate, the deeper the better.** I can kinda picture what you’re saying, but I’m not sure I could duplicate your experiment. How do you mean to “feed a lot of wax into it”? Maybe I’m not getting the picture. And, what are “cheesies”? ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@WhiteNight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhiteNight)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-melted-candle-wax-go/467/23 "2000-01-24T19:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Jinx: > \*\* I can kinda picture what you’re saying, but I’m not sure I could duplicate your experiment. How do you mean to “feed a lot of wax into it”? Maybe I’m not getting the picture. And, what are “cheesies”? > \*\* Oh, put the short candle on the plate, ‘feed’ the other into it by holding it over the flame, such that the melted wax drips on the plate. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, candles will melt wax more quickly if it runs off than they do if they burn it normally. ‘Cheesies’ are cheese-flavoured puffs, a cheap snack food. Alternate names are ‘Cheese Doodles’ and ‘Cheesy Poofs’. I think a brand name version is ‘Cheetos’. I’ve seen them all over North America, and I know they have them in Australia. Maybe Europe is too lucky to have them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-melted-candle-wax-go/467.md?page=1)