Why do candles only smoke when they’re put out?
In: Chemistry
The flame vaporizes the melting wax and the mixture of vaporized hydrocarbons and oxygen from the air is what causes the flame. When you put out the flame, the residual heat continues to vaporize the wax for a short while and these particles are carried up into the air by the heat. It is basically unburned fuel. You can even reignite it above the wick and if that smoke column is cohesive and dense enough, the flame will burn down to the wick and reignite the wick and restart the melting and vaporizing of the wax fuel.
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