University of California Video Podcasts (Video)

The burning candle water experiment is something you can do at home. See what happens when the candle burns out. Think about what you know about air pressure and how that explains what you see. You created an area of low pressure! Once the candle runs out of oxygen, the candle burns out and the air inside the glass cools down which lowers the air pressure inside the glass. Now there is a difference between the air pressure outside and inside the glass. The high pressure outside allows the water to be pushed into the lower pressure inside the glass and the water rises inside the glass. Series: "STEAM Channel" [Education] [Show ID: 36147]