June 1, 2011

• Burning a candle

  This is so unbelievably reminiscent of my high school chemistry class I don’t even know what to say.

  I saw this screen capture floating around on the Internet and at first, I laughed out loud. And then… I fell into a contemplative silence.

  
  source: http://img.izismile.com/img/img4/
  20110526/640/daily_picdump_700_640_high_66.jpg
  Click to view full sized

  Many eons ago, in my OAC Chemistry class (the equivalent of AP Chemistry when I was in high school) my chemistry teacher asked the class this hugely profound question.

  What is the fuel in a candle? The wax or the wick?

  
  source: http://rlv.zcache.com/o_o_wtf_
  tshirt-p235087516927217414tr1k_400.jpg
  

  Now, being a keener in high school, I immediately said, "The wax."

  I thought it was obvious. And I was a bit arrogant when I was in high school (only a bit, I got the rest of my arrogance after I finished university) so I said it in that "Well, duh! What a stupid question" tone.

  Normally, my classmates did not dispute my answer because I was always right (or more accurately, I *only* answered when I was 100% sure that I was right. When I wasn't sure, I would STFU). But on this day…for THIS QUESTION, every single person in my class turned to me like I was the retard and said, "Oh!! That's ridiculous!! The fuel is OBVIOUSLY the wick."

  

  
  source: http://rlv.zcache.com/o_o_wtf_tshirt
  -p235087516927217414tr1k_400.jpg
   

  I couldn’t believe it. I was in complete shock and disbelief. My best friend was in this class. She sided with the wick group. Several other friends of mine…even my lab partner…everyone agreed it was the wick and were scolding me for my ignorance. It was like the twilight zone.

  The teacher, as usual, looked somewhat amused and then stated that he would take only one answer and the class had to come to a unanimous decision.

  I flatly refused to change my answer. The class started to heap up their arguments against me. I swear, this was probably as close to a medieval witch trial as I was ever going to experience.

  Me: If the wick is the fuel, why do you need wax?
  Classmate: To hold up the wick!

  Me: Then why do you have candles of different widths?
  Classmate: It’s just decorative.

  Me: Why does a fat candle take longer to burn than a thin candle of the same height? The wicks are the same.
  Classmate: Have you ever even burned a candle?! A fat candle and a thin candle take the same amount of time to burn.

  
  source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/
  lowres/wpr0155l.jpg
  

  The teacher said time was up and asked what the answer was. I exclaimed it was the wax. The class obstinately insisted that it was the wick. He asked me if I would change my answer and I said, “There is no way anyone will EVER get me to agree that the wick is the fuel for a candle. And I can’t convince the class otherwise if they’re going to band together and insist that the world is flat."

  
  source: http://www.kingmonkey00.com/
  web_images/flatworld.jpg
  

  Then came the teacher’s sermon…and yes, I was sitting smug the whole time.

  Never in the history of my career have I ever seen such a passionate division on this question. I have never seen it contested in such a way where there was a lone voice that stood so adamantly against an almost unanimous answer. I commend all of you for standing up for what you believe.

  However, I have also never in the history of my career encountered such a large group of people who unanimously believe that the wick is the fuel for a candle. How any of you made it into OAC chemistry believing that the wick is the fuel is beyond me.

  The fuel for a candle is most definitely the WAX. Every argument I heard today in favour of the wick was illogical and ludicrous. And every argument laid out against the wax was equally so. I strongly suggest that this class rethink their program choice for post-secondary education because today’s discussion would be borderline traumatic for anyone in academia.

  You may be wondering how I remember the details so vividly (though the words of the teacher’s sermon may not be exact, the sentiment is). I remember this day so very clearly, but the reason I remember the exact arguments and the teacher’s sentiment…is because in high school, I kept a daily journal. And believe me…I recorded this event at such an incredible level of detail because, really, you can’t make this stuff up. Never in my entire life did I ever think that this would happen. And yet it did. And as illustrated by that Facebook screen capture, stuff like this still happens.

  • 10:31 am
  • 3 Comments