Defying Gravity with Temperature and Water

At this point you probably have at least a basic understand that temperature and pressure are main drivers in our weather patterns. This experiment will further prove that point while defying gravity!  

What You Need: 

-clear bowl

-cool water

-wine glass (or other clear glass with a small opening that’s slightly bigger than the candle)

-candle (tall enough to sit in water, so not a tea candle, and something not in a jar)

-lighter

-food coloring (optional)

What to Do: (you can watch my video demonstration here)

Add water to the bowl so that the candle sits firmly on the bottom of the bowl without floating but is not fully submerged in the water. Add a couple drops of food coloring to the water then put the candle in the bowl. Light the candle, give it a few seconds to start burning, then put the wine glass over top of the candle. 

What’s Happening:

When you place the glass over the candle, you trap the heat from the fire inside the glass. Warmer air means those molecules are more energized, so they need more room to move than cooler air does. Putting the glass over the flame also cuts off its oxygen source, so the flame will go out after a few seconds. When the flame is gone, the air molecules are less energized so the temperature drops. Now we can fit more molecules into that same space because they are not as energized and don’t need as much room to move around. You see that happening when the water level inside the glass rises above the water level outside the glass! The cooler air (water) is rushing into fill the vacancy left when the warm air inside the glass cooled.