1. Does the Scent of a Candle Affect the Amount of Energy Released?
Hannah Sisk
Academy of Notre Dame

2. Hypothesis
The scent of a candle will affect the amount of energy released.
Scented candles will produce more energy than un-scented candles.
Scented candles include more ingredients than un-scented candles, therefore containing more substances to be released while burning.

3. Materials 4 unscented candles (“white”)
4 Vanilla Cookie (“yellow”) scented candles
4 Pomegranate (“red”) scented candles
4 Mid-Summer’s Night (“black”) scented candles
Can (large enough to hold 400. mL of liquid)
Larger can ( 15 ½ cm diameter), open at both ends
Duct tape
6.40 x 103 mL distilled water
Temperature probe (or thermometer)
Ring stand
Candle lighter

4. Procedure
Wrap duct tape around both cans until completely covered for insulation.
Measure 400.mL distilled water
Pour into smaller can.
Place can in ring stand.
Place temperature probe into water and record the temperature.
Place an un-scented candle below the suspended can so that, when lit, the candle’s flame will be about 2 cm below the can.
Take the larger can and place around the suspended can and un-scented candle for insulation.
Light the candle using the “candle lighter”
Continue to record the rising temperature for 10 minutes (recording the temperature every 15 seconds).
After the ten minutes of burning, blow out candle
Record the final temperature.
Repeat 1-11 for each candle (4 candles of each scent, so 4 times for each different scent).

5. Apparatus

6. Calculations
Heat transferred in a reaction is equal in magnitude, but opposite in sign to the heat absorbed by the surroundings
qsur = m x C x (Tf – Ti)
qsur - heat absorbed by surroundings
m – mass of water (g)
C – specific heat of water (1 calorie/g.oC)
Tf – final temperature of water (oC)
Ti – initial temperature of water (oC)
Joule Conversion
1 joule =(number of calories)(4.184)

8. T-Test Results Set of Data Being Compared Results Unscented to Yellow
= <.05
Unscented to Red
= <.05
Unscented to Black
= <.05
This table shows the results from the T-tests, comparing the unscented candles to each, different group of scented candles. Notice that each one of the results is less than .05 (some even lower than .001). This suggests that there is a significant difference between each data pair.

9. Limitations Further Studies
Only four candles were tested for each scent
T-TEST works best with five or more data points
Some heat was lost during the process
Apparatus construction
Further Studies
test more scents
compare colored, unscented candles to white, unscented ones.
compare energy released from unscented-colored candles, to candles of the same color, but scented.

10. Conclusion Partial Support of Hypothesis
Scent does affect heat given off
Unscented candles give off more heat in a shorter period of time than scented ones do (contradicts hypothesis)

11. Resources
Arnold, Brian (2003, September 22). Energy and energy changes. The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Science. Retrieved November 13, 2005 from eLibrary database.
Calorimetry. (1996). In Chemistry : connections to our changing world (pp.      ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Energy. (2003, December 1). Compton’s by Britannica. Retrieved November 13, from eLibrary database.
Farabee, M., J. (2001). Laws of thermodynamics. Retrieved November 13, from
The Free Dictionary (Calorimeter). (2005). Retrieved November 13, 2005 from
Physics: heat and temperature. (1995, January 1). The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference. Retrieved November 10, 2005 from eLibrary database.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Calorimeter) (2005 November 4, 2005). Retrieved November 13, 2005 from