TEN WAYS TO WIN WITH MATCHES AND CANDLES
AMAZING FACTS ABOUT FIRE
• In Iraq there’s a natural gas vent that’s been burning continuously for thousands of years and is mentioned in the Old Testament.
• The patent for the first ever fire hydrant was destroyed in a fire.
• American fire stations used to have spiral staircases because the station horses learned how to walk up straight ones.
• The hottest part of a candle flame is light blue and burns at 1,400°C.
• Without gravity warm air doesn’t rise, and so when astronauts light a candle in space the flame is spherical instead of elliptical.
POP SCIENCE
Bet your friend that you can hold an inflated balloon over a candle without bursting it.
To win the bet, place some water in the balloon, blow it up, tie it off, and then gently lower it over the candle. Amazingly, it won’t burst.
Place a balloon above a candle and the heat will quickly melt the rubber. However, if the balloon has some water inside then this heat is quickly transferred to the water. Better still, the water requires a large amount of energy to heat up, and so it remains cool for a long time. This, in turn, keeps the balloon cool and helps prevent it from bursting.
HOLDING A LIT MATCH UNDER WATER
Tell your friend that you can hold a lit match under water without it going out. When they accept the bet, light a match and hold it under a glass of water. Technically, you have held a lit match under water!
CANDLE IN THE WIND
For this bet you need a funnel and a candle. Light the candle and challenge your friend to blow it out by blowing from the narrow end of a funnel. Amazingly, no matter how hard they blow they won’t be able to do it.
Some scientists think that when you blow into the funnel your breath spreads out along the funnel walls, and very little air makes it to the flame. Other scientists don’t have a clue why it works. Either way, if you blow through the wide end of the funnel your breath will be more focused and it will be easy to blow out the candle.
BURN BABY BURN
Make a hole in an empty matchbox and put a match vertically into the hole. Place a coin on the matchbox, and then place a second match on the coin and lean it against the top of the upright match. Challenge your friend to remove the coin without touching either of the matches.
To win the bet, light a third match and place it under the centre of the diagonal match. The flame will travel along the diagonal match. At one end it will ignite the upright match and bond the two matches together. At the other end it will cause the match to lift into the air, enabling you to remove the coin!
GLASS-BLOWING
Place a lit candle in front of a bottle, go behind the bottle and tell your friend that you can blow out the candle without touching the bottle or moving from your position.
To win the bet, simply blow. The air currents will move around the bottle, and the candle will be extinguished.
GOING UP
Place a coin on a plate and then pour some water over it. Now challenge your friend to pick up the coin without getting their fingers wet.
To win the bet, put three matches into a piece of cork, place the cork on the water, and light the matches.
Place a glass over the matches, avoiding the coin. The water will be drawn up into the glass, allowing you to remove the coin. If you don’t have a piece of cork you can use a slice of lemon.
When you cover the matches the flames start to heat the air inside the glass. As a result, the air expands and some of it eventually comes out under the rim of the glass. In fact, the more sharp-eyed among you might have noticed the tiny bubbles of air in the water. When the matches go out, the air inside the glass cools down and contracts. As the air contracts it pulls the water into the glass, allowing you to pick up the coin.
A STICKY SOLUTION
For this bet you need two glasses, a match, and some coins. Place one glass over the coins and balance the match between the glasses like this. Challenge your friend to pick up the coins, but without moving the match.
To win the bet, use another match to light the first one and quickly blow it out. Wait a few seconds and the match will stick to the side of the glass. You will then be able to pick up the other glass and grab the coins.
PICK ME UP
Challenge your friend to pick up a glass with an inflated balloon.
To win the bet, carefully drop a lit match into the glass and push the balloon onto the rim of the glass. The match will burn out, sucking the balloon into the glass and allowing you to pick up the glass using the balloon.
Why does it work? The burning match heats up the air, which then expands, rises up, and starts to escape from the glass. When you place the balloon on the glass and the match goes out, the air left in the glass cools down and contracts, sucking in the balloon and sealing it against the rim of the glass.
LIFT-OFF
Tell your friend that you can turn a teabag into a rocket. For this bet you need a teabag that is folded and stapled at the top.
Cut off the top and bottom of the bag (including the staple), open the bag and empty out the tea. Next, make the teabag into a tube and stand the tube upright on a plate.
Finally, light the top of the tube and it will burn down. Just before it gets to the end, however, the entire teabag will fly into the air like a rocket!
Setting fire to the teabag heats the air inside the tube, and the hot air starts to rise. As the teabag changes into ash it becomes lighter, and eventually the uplift provided by the warm air is enough to raise the teabag. Hot-air balloons work on exactly the same principle and were originally made from giant teabags (I made this last bit up).
WE HAVE IGNITION
Challenge your friend to light a candle, but without touching it with a match or lighter. When they give up, first light the candle with a match.
Now quickly blow out the candle and carefully place the lit match in the smoke emerging from the wick.
The flame will magically travel down the smoke and relight the candle!
The science of candles is fascinating, and in 1860 the great Victorian scientist Michael Faraday devoted six lectures to the topic at London’s Royal Institution.
We don’t have that kind of time so I’ll keep it short. When a candle burns, the heat vaporizes the wax as it travels up the wick.
When you blow out the candle, there’s still enough heat in the wick to continue vaporizing the wax, and the resulting vapour drifts up in the smoke. Place a match in the smoke and voilà, you ignite the vapour, causing the flame to travel down and relight the candle.