This Week's Experiment - #266 Orange Flash
This week's experiment is sure to surprise you. It is simple, easy and quite
dramatic. You will be using a candle, so be sure to get permission and have
an adult around, just in case. You will need:
an orange (You can also use a lemon or other citrus fruit.)
a candle
The first thing to do is peel the orange. You do not have to peel the entire
thing, but I suspect that once you try this you will want to. You can eat
the inside as a snack while you are experimenting.
Place the candle into a holder and light it. Pick up a piece of the orange
peel. Holding it near the flame, bend the peel and squeeze it. Be sure that
the outside of the peel is facing towards the flame and you should get some
very nice flashes and flares from the flame.
What is going on? The orange peel has oil glands which contain oil of
orange. This oil gives the orange a lot of its smell, but it is also quite
flammable. As you bend the orange peel, the orange oil squirts into the
flame, producing a nice flash.
Orange oil is used as a flavoring, as a natural insecticide, to add fragrance
to air fresheners, and in a variety of cleaning products. Lemons and
grapefruits contain similar oils, which are quite useful and also make nice
flashes.
From Robert Krampf's Science Education Company
PO Box 60982
Jacksonville, FL 32236-0982
904-388-6381
krampf@aol.com
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