A Course of Six Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle: To Which is Added a Lecture on Platinum

The Chemical History of the Candle is a six-lecture series on the chemistry and physics of flame. They were read by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution in 1848 as part of a series of Christmas lectures for young people and originally published in 1861. The lectures contain descriptions of various combustion zones in a candle flame and the presence of carbon particles in the luminescent zone. The demonstrations included the production and study of the properties of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The electrolysis cell is demonstrated first in the galvanic coating of platinum conductors with dissolved copper, then in the production of hydrogen and oxygen gases and their recombination to form water. The properties of water itself are also being studied, including its freezing expansion and the relative volume of steam produced when water evaporates. Methods of weighing gases on scales are also demonstrated. The atmospheric pressure is described and its effects are demonstrated. Faraday stresses that some of the lecture demonstrations and experiments can be performed by children “at home,” and makes a few points about due regard for safety.