SCIENCE FAIR
PROJECT 2014
What colour of candle burns faster?
Bethany Mearns| Mrs. Mcneese Period: 1| Syracuse Jr.
High
Statement of the Problem
If I compare five different colour
of candles, which colour will burn
the fastest?
Research
◦ Candles are a combination of wax, certain additives and a wick
that will hold the flame that burns the wax. Candles have been
made from many different things over the years, including tallow,
made from the fat of cattle and wax made from the berries of
the bayberry bush.
Sheperd, Lizz. ehow crafts. 2010. Web. 5 January 2014.
◦ Many scented candles are made with different varieties of preblended wax which each have their own saturation point for
fragrance oils.
Denis. Wise Geek. 2010. web. 5 January 2014.
Research
◦ Paraffin wax
◦ Stearic acid
◦ Color block
◦ Fragrance oil
◦ www.airwick.us/holiday No author or year given
Hypothesis
If we burn five different colour of candles
then I predict that the white colour candle
will burn the fastest because it will have less
chemicals or added ingredients that the
flame will have to burn through.
Procedure: Materials
◦ One white candle
◦ One brown candle
◦ One red candle
◦ One pink candle
◦ One orange candle
◦ Matches
◦ Stop watch
Procedure: Steps
1.
I lined up the candles in the same area.
2.
I lit them all at the same time.
3.
When they were lit, I started the stop watch.
4.
When the candle was completely gone I recorded the time.
5.
I waited until all candles were burnt out and compared the
results.
Variables
◦ Constants: All same size candles; temperatures
◦ Controlled variables: The different colour of candles
◦ Independent (manipulated) variable: The colour of the candle
◦ Dependent (measured) variable: The time it takes from when I lit
the candle to when it burnt out completely.
Data/Observations
◦ I started to notice major results about an hour into the
experiment. White was burning the fastest next to pink, then red,
then brown and then orange.
◦ At 1 hour and 20 minutes all of the wax had spilled over on all of
the candles and the melting process sped up.
◦ All of the candles burnt out within the same few minutes of each
other.
◦ Pink: 1 hour 42 minutes 48 seconds
◦ Orange: 1 hour 42 minutes 50 seconds
◦ Brown: 1 hour 47 minutes
◦ Red: 1 hour 49 minutes
◦ White: 1 hour 50 minutes
TIME EACH CANDLE BURNED
120
110
1hr 42 mins
48 secs
1 hr 42 mins
50 secs
1 hr 47 min
1 hr 59 min
Pink
Orange
Brown
Red
1 hr 50 min
Time in Minutes
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Colours
White
Conclusion
When we burned the five different colour candles the white candle
did not burn the fastest. The inverse of my hypothesis was actually
correct. The white candle lacking chemicals and ingredients actually
burned slower rather than faster. The fastest burning candle was the
pink, followed by orange, brown, red and finally white.