Is burning a candle a chemical or physical change?

When a candle burns, both physical and chemical changes occur. Physical Changes: On heating, candle wax gets melted. Since it again turns into solid wax on cooling. So, the melting of wax and vapourisation of melted wax are physical changes.

What type of chemical reaction occurs when a candle is burning?

And when you light a candle you use the candle’s wax as fuel for a chemical reaction called combustion which involves reacting hydrocarbons with oxygen, breaking them down into carbon dioxide and water.

Is burning a candle an example of exothermic reaction?

The wax is burning and turning into carbon dioxide and water. In the process, it gives off heat (and light). Giving off of heat makes it exothermic (heat exits the reaction… exothermic).

Is the wick part of the chemical reaction in a candle?

The burning of a candle is a chemical reaction between the wick and the ambient air. When we light a candle, we heat the wick up with a flame that initiates a combustion reaction on the wick, what we commonly refer to as fire.

Is burning of wax a physical change?

Melting of wax is physical change because only physical state is changing from solid to liquid but burning of wax is chemical change because in burning, wax reacts with oxygen present in surroundings and forms carbon di oxide and ash.

Where are the two stages of wax when the candle is lit?

Answer: When you light a candle, the heat of the flame melts the wax near the wick. This liquid wax is then drawn up the wick by capillary action. The heat of the flame vaporizes the liquid wax (turns it into a hot gas), and starts to break down the hydrocarbons into molecules of hydrogen and carbon.

What chemical is in candle wax?

Paraffin wax
Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between twenty and forty carbon atoms….Paraffin wax.

What happens when candle wax burns?

Wax is made of hydrogen and carbon. When a candle burns, the hydrogen and carbon from the wax combine with the oxygen in the air to become carbon dioxide and water vapor. Most of the matter in the candle ends up as these two gases.

Is a lit candle exothermic or endothermic?

A burning candle is an example of an exothermic reaction.

Is burning candle wax endothermic or exothermic?

Explanation: If we talk about melting of wax then it is endothermic but if we talk about burning of candle then it is exothermic.

What changes happened in the candle wick after it was lighted?

When you light a candle, the heat of the flame melts the wax near the wick. This liquid wax is then drawn up the wick by capillary action. The heat of the flame vaporizes the liquid wax (turns it into a hot gas), and starts to break down the hydrocarbons into molecules of hydrogen and carbon.

What happens to wax when a candle burns?