Fire+Power

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Title
Fire Power

Problem Scenario
This project is testing to see how much the candles burn, in centimeters, in an hour. People might want to know which scents burn faster so that they get one that lasts longer.

Broad Question
What makes candles burn faster?

Specific Question
Does the scent of a candle affect the speed at which it burns?

Hypothesis
I hypothesize that the Tropical Forest candle will burn the fastest out of all the candles.

Independent Variable: Scent of Candle
===Dependent Variable: Burn Rate (in cm)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Size of candle Brand of candle

General Plan
You can perform this experiment at your house or at school as long as you have an adult with you. You need an adult to light the candles for you because using lighters or matches is dangerous. After you decide where you are going to perform your experiment, you need to find a place to set it up. A place where no one will get to it and ,mess it up. A place where no one will be able to disturb the performance of your experiment. Gather all your materials, set them up in the place you have decided, and start to perform your experiment.Make sure that you measure and record the length of the candles before you begin.Let the candles burn for an hour and then blow the candles out. Measure and record, in centimeters, how mucfh thep Repeat the process several times.

Potential Probles And Solutions
A potential problem would be finding a safe and quiet place to perform the experiment. You could perform the experiment at school to have a safe place to do it.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
A safety concern would be is that there is fire involved in the experiment. You have to be very careful not to burn yourself or set anything on fire.

Experimental Design
(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

 * Item || Number needed || Where I will get this || Cost ||

Detailed Procedure

 * 1) Gather all of your materials that you will need to perform your experiment
 * 2) Set up the experiment and have an adult or teacher light the candles
 * 3) Measure how tall the candles are in centimeters
 * 4) Let the candles burn for an hour
 * 5) Blow out the candles
 * 6) Measure how tall the candles are after they burn
 * 7) Record how much the candles burned in centimeters

Time Line
January- Learn about science fair February- Write your procedure and start to perform your experiment March- Experiment should be done 3/2/13- Do your back round research, abstract, and discussion 3/5/13- Complete your wiki page 3/9/13- Start your poster 3/22/13- poster should be done 3/29/13- Kennett Middle School Science Fair 5/9/13- Regional Science Fair

All Raw Data
see data table above

Conclusion
My hypothesis was "Does the scent of a candle effect the speed at which it burns?". I hypothesized, that the Tropical Forest scented candle would burn the longest. I have to reject my hypothesis because it was proven, that the cinnamon scented candle burned the fastest.

Discussion
At first, the candles burned really slow, but, at the second hour, they were burning really fast. The relationship between the independent and dependent variable, was strong. The stronger the scent and the darker the color, the faster the candles burned. I was able to answer my question for this experiment- which is yes, the darker the candle was, the faster it burned- because there was an obvious differnece between the height of all the candles. My experiment worked out perfect! I had no problems with my experiment. I could improve this experiment by getting more scents, running more trials, and planning the experiment better.

Benefit to Community and/or Science
This experiment would help the community because it would be good to know the candle that would last the longest if you want to have a nice, candlelit dinner,make your room/ house smell good and have the candle last, and also, to get a candle that will last a long time so that you don't have to go back and buy another one in a short amount of time. Therefore, you can save money.

Background Research
Have you ever wondered if different color and scented candles mean different things? Well, they do. A green candle represents wealth, a yellow candle represents wisdom and honor, a red candle represents energy, a white candle represents spirituality enlightenment, a pink candle represents love and romance, a purple colored candle means spirituality. A black candle represents protection and rebelling negativity, a brown candle influences friendships, and blue candle represents good fortune. An orange candle represents business goals, property deals, and ambition, and a copper colored candle represents passion, money goals, professional growth, fertility in business, and career maneuvers. A lemon scented candle means "energy"; a lavender candle represents relieving stress and sleep. A Jasmine scented candle has a soothing and relaxing effect; the peppermint scent is thought to provide the greatest possible energy boost and can help make you feel more awake and alert. The ginger scent promotes sleep and relaxation and is often used during meditation in many cultures. The sandalwood scented candle is perhaps one of the most widely used and popular scent and has been burned in homes across the globe for many years. Aroma therapists believe Sandalwood is a mood elevator and often use it to treat depression, so it’s great to burn sandalwood tealights in your tealight holders of you’re feeling a bit down. The Eucalyptus is wonderful for decongesting the airways so burn eucalyptus candles if you have a cold.

Here is a step-by-step process of how to make candles: That's essentially all it takes. Of course, from there you can choose from various types of candle and you'll need to choose the appropriate wax and wick for your project. Personalize your candle even further by choosing a fragrance or essential oil to scent your candle. As you can see, the variations of candles you can make are only limited by your imagination and your willingness to experiment.
 * 1) An understanding of Basic Candle Safety (both the making and the use of them.)
 * 2) A heat source like a hot plate or electric stove
 * 3) A "double boiler" set up - a large, low pot for boiling water, with an old coffee can set inside it to melt the wax, will do just fine - or a more formal candle wax melting pot
 * 4) Some wax appropriate for the type of the candle you want to make
 * 5) A wick appropriate for that wax
 * 6) A mold or container to hold the melted wax
 * 7) Fragrance or color for the candle, if desired
 * 8) A match to light it when it's done

Candles were invented independently in many countries.The Egyptians and Cretans made candles from beeswax, about 3000 BC. The oldest candle manufacturers still in existence are Rathbornes Candles, founded in Dublin in 1488.

Abstract
I hypothesized that the tropical forest scented candle would burn the longest, but I hypothesized wrong. The cinnamon scented candle burned the longest. This project was important to do because, if you want to have a nice dinner with candles or make your house smell good, you will know which candle lasts the longest. For my project, I lit all the candles, burned them for an hour, blew them out, and then measured how tall it was afterwards. Then, I recorded the height into my notebook. The candle that burned the slowest, was the strawberry scented candle.