Name: ______________________________

Candle Comparison Lab

Set up the stations ahead of time with all appropriate materials. There may not be a balance for each group so make sure the balances are easily accessible. All text in red are additional teacher notes that can be deleted.

Background: When you burn a candle, a process called combustion is occurring. Combustion a chemical reaction in which a substance (the wax) is combined with oxygen. The reaction gives off energy in the form of heat and light. The flame melts the wax, which travels up the wick and then is burned off. The wax is the fuel for the candle, and in this lab you will be investigating how different types of waxes burn and making observations about those differences. Purpose: To observe the burning characteristics of different candles and to determine the rates at which different kinds of candles burn. Hypothesis: (What do you expect to happen with the burn rate for your candle? How do you expect that to compare to the other candle types? Etc.) ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Materials: One votive candle(either paraffin, vegetable oil based, or soy) Matches Balance/Weigh Boat Cup of water for extinguished matches Stop Watch Procedure: 1. Design a data table in the data section, or on a spreadsheet like Excel, to record your quantitative data. 2. Record your observations of the appearance of the unlit candle. 3. Obtain the initial combined mass of candle in its votive and record. 4. Carefully light candle with a match and allow it to burn for 2 minutes. Then blow out the candle, and obtain the combined mass of the candle in its votive. Safety note: After lighting the candle, put your match in the cup of water to cool. 5. While the candle is burning, record your observations of the flame and candle, observing what is burning, where the burning is taking place, the color of the flames, and where it seems the most heat is released. 6. Repeat steps 4-5 at least six more times, for a total burning time of at least 14 minutes. 7. When you are finished, place the extinguished candle with the other used candles. Roles: Decide which person in your group will be in charge of which part of the lab Time Keeper and Safety Monitor: _________________________________________________ Mass Recorder: _______________________________________________________________ Data and Observation Collector:__________________________________________________

Data Collection: In the space below record your data to help answer the questions below.

Encourage students to record observations about the burning candle and any detail for each measurement step to help answer the questions later. The observation recorder should make sure each member in the group has this information in order to finish the final questions.

Analysis (show all calculations): 1. Graph the data. You will graph candle mass vs. time. Make sure students are appropriately labeling their graphs

2. Which variable is the independent variable? Which is the dependent variable?

3. Using your graphs, estimate how much mass the candle lost in three minutes. How much would it lose in 30 minutes?

4. Calculate the rate of burning in terms of mass (g/min) for each 2-minute time interval.

Conclusion (Please answer the following questions in complete sentences. What you do not finish is homework) 1. State your findings. Refer to your hypothesis.

2. How can your findings be related to energy in biofuels vs. fossil fuels?

Answer after sharing graphs with other groups: 3. Comparing the rates of burning of the three candles what conclusions can you draw about energy content and consumption rates between the three candles?

4. What might these burning rates say about the energy density of the candles and the candle material?

Adapted from: http://www2.fultonschools.org/teacher/lepkofkers/Lab-burning_of_a_candle_lab.htm