Can a candle burn in zero gravity?
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ANSWERS: 8
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I believe not, the molten wax if it was lit would fly in all directions and without fuel the flame would go out. and then the candle itself wouldnt stay put.
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Yes, I have seen a picture of a candle burning in zero gravity. The flame was a small blue sphere on the wick, it doesn't make the shape you would usually think of because in zero gravity heat doesn't rise because there is no up.
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Yes, but only if there were oxygen, therefore it would not burn in a vaccuum.
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Where could this be tested? Where is zero gravity? I would be willing to give it a try to find out.
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Not in space definitely. In space there is no oxygen so fire can't burn and sound has no medium in which to travel.
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1) "A candle can burn in zero gravity. The flame is a diffusion flame which tends to a spherical shape in the absence of airflow. The burning rate is reduced drastically since combustion only occurs in a thin spherical shell where the outward diffusing fuel vapours meet the inward diffusing oxygen. The flame loses the yellow colour of incandescent carbon particles and becomes an almost invisible clear blue. To test this, candles were burnt on board the space station Skylab." Source: http://www.newscientist.com/backpage.ns?id=lw80 2) "On Earth, gravity-driven buoyant convection causes a candle flame to be teardrop-shaped (A) and carries soot to the flame's tip, making it yellow. In microgravity, where convective flows are absent, the flame is spherical, soot-free, and blue (B)." Source and further information: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12may_1.htm
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Oxidation or burning process is independent of gravity.
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not sure
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