The Little Things - Do they matter?

The Little Things - Do they matter?

12/09/2011 08:07:00 AM

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever lit a candle - the thin, cylindrical type?

I have been using them all my life so what's so new?

The other day, I lit a candle and let it stay lit till it burnt all over.

Something was wrong. I had to look for the next one not before long, it burnt very very fast.

And I also noticed, absent-mindedly at first, that there was a shapeless block of frozen candle-melt at the base of the candle.

So, so what, I have been holding candles in my hand, right from the time when I was little boy, I have experimented with candles to see how heat-tolerant my skin was to drops of hot candle-melt, scraped it from tables, floors and all over the place thinking that that was the way it had to be.

I even made a recycled candle from melt-wax puddles a few weeks ago. It really did last a long time and I was so happy with myself, but thought nothing else about it at that time.

Then I realized wonder of wonders, what a big difference a few degrees of an angle make to the lifetime of a candle.

I have seen candles burn all my life but I do not remember anyone telling me about how a 90-degree lit candle lasts longer and also saves money.

The next time I lit a candle I made sure I aligned my candle to the vertical side of a doorpost so it stayed straight, at 90 degrees, no frozen wax-puddles by its side, and lasted longer.
Keep a lit candle perfectly straight - first grade stuff, isn't it? Why have I not looked at it this way before?

Speed of light? How about speed of [candle] light! How fast a candle burns at 90 degrees as opposed to less than that?

Image by rogerglenn via Flickr

I am sure, little things, yes, they do matter but, dude, don't forget to buy fat or flat candles next time so you don't have to worry about your degrees!