yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

What's In A Candle Flame?


2m read
·Nov 10, 2024

What is a candle flame really made of? I am at the Palace of Discovery in Paris to do an experiment that beautifully demonstrates the answers.

Ok, so we're turning on an electric field here and we see that the flame is spreading out. That's very cute; it's like a butterfly. And you can see that the flame has two separate pieces to it now. One is going towards the negative plate. Those would be the positive ions, and the negative ions will be going towards a positively charged plate. So we see the flame kinda flattening out.

But if that didn't convince you that flame contains ions, then check part two of our experiment where we compare the conductivity of a flame to the conductivity of air, which is normally a pretty good insulator. It requires about 10,000 volts to break down a centimeter of air. So right now, this plate is about 20,000 V. You see that the spark is only little, but if I put it around the flame, we will see if we can get a bigger spark happen.

Look at that, yeaaa! Because the flame has those ions in it, that means that we can break down a greater distance of air. This greater conductivity. It's awesome! You love doing this, right?

A strong enough electric field can actually extinguish the flame, but watch carefully what happens when the flame goes out. Just like in the flame, the opposite charges in the smoke are pulled in opposite directions. Now, while some may argue that a flame is not truly a plasma because it's not hot enough and it doesn't have a high enough density of ions, one thing is for sure: it does contain ions which have important electrical properties, which can be demonstrated if you have a strong enough electric field.

More Articles

View All
TAOISM | The Art of Not Trying
Those who stand on tiptoes do not stand firmly. Those who rush ahead don’t get very far. Those who try to outshine others dim their own light. — Lao Tzu How can we improve when we stop trying to improve? Many people waste their efforts trying to better …
Artificial Intelligence: Mankind's Last Invention
It could be terrible and it could be great. It’s not clear. Right? But one thing is for sure, we will not control it. Go is arguably the most complex board game in existence. Its goal is simple: surround more territory than your opponent. This game has b…
How To Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck
What’s up, guys? It’s Graham here. So, let me tell you a quick story about what just happened. I was going about my day, a normal day, just like any other, and I decided to open up the internet to see what people were talking about, what was happening in …
ChatGPT Asked: What is the Most Important Principle for Investing
I was asked a question from chat GPT. Interesting, so I’ll tell you. Although I suspect you probably can get an equally good answer from chat GPT, the most important principle is about what I call the Holy Grail of investing. And that’s about diversifica…
Warren Buffett's BIG $9,000,000,000 Investment
There’s no secret that over the past few years, Warren Buffett has been struggling to deploy Berkshire Hathaway’s monster cash pile. He hasn’t been able to find any really big investments to sink that money into. This was a focus in his 2019 shareholder l…
Alaskan Medicine - Deleted Scene | Life Below Zero
Picking some yarrow here. I’m going to make some salve for my hands, feet, and my dog’s feet. Dog’s feet get in the cold conditions that we run them in; they get kind of dry, and this helps to keep them supple and soft. It’s very important to be knowledge…