JCE 1999 (76) 914 [Jul] The Persistence of the Candle-and-Cylinder Misconception


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Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1999 > July >

Chemistry Everyday for Everyone

The Persistence of the Candle-and-Cylinder Misconception

James P. Birk
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287

Anton E. Lawson
Department of Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287

July 1999
Vol. 76 No. 7
p. 914

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Abstract

There is a persistent misconception that when a lighted candle is supported in a container of water and a closed cylinder is lowered over the candle, the candle is extinguished after a time by complete consumption of the oxygen in the cylinder, with a volume change corresponding to the amount of oxygen in the air. This misconception has appeared in the literature periodically for many years. Here, we present a number of experiments that refute this misconception. An alternative explanation that is consistent with all the collected data attributes the change in volume to expulsion of heated air while the cylinder is being lowered over the lighted candle. The flame is extinguished by local depletion of oxygen and buildup of carbon dioxide near the candle.

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Citation	Birk, James P.; Lawson, Anton E. J. Chem. Educ. 1999 76 914.
Keywords	General Chemistry; Introductory / High School Chemistry; Oxygen; Gases; Atmospheric Chemistry; Quantitative Analysis; Chemical Education Research
History	Created: Last Updated:	June 9, 1999 November 22, 2005
	LInk to Letter added (April 2004).


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