I know this sounds like a silly question but when a candle bought at Yankee Candle burns away, and the jar is empty, is there a waxy coating on the walls of my room? Would one eventually over the years, be able to notice the waxy coating in the room? Are we breathing in wax while the candles burning? I have a lot of questions just like a five-year-old LOL. Someone please help.
In: Chemistry
Burning is actually a chemical reaction between the wax and the air. There’s lots of different materials that can burn but the vast majority of the ones we use are pretty much [this reaction](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/2uaaTWnUH6aQFr6GD_UmfDsBsuk=/1500×1000/filters:fill(auto,1)/methanecombustion-58e3e6005f9b58ef7e0daa10.jpg).
Hydrocarbons (molecules that are mostly carbon and hydrogen) react with molecules of oxygen to transform into heat and carbon dioxide (carbon and oxygen) and water (hydrogen and oxygen). Candle wax is made up of long chains of hydrocarbons which take the place of CH4 in the picture. Once the wax has been burned it doesn’t exist anymore as wax, it’s been broken down into CO2 and water vapor, just gasses in the air.
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