Faraday's Candle

In 1860 Michael Faraday gave the following series of Christmas Lectures at the Royal Instution of Great Britain, called "The Chemical History of a Candle":

Lecture I: A Candle: The Flame - Its Sources - Structure Mobility - Brightness
Lecture II: Brightness of The Flame - Air Necessary For Combustion - Production of Water
Lecture III: Products: Water From The Combustion - Nature of Water - A Compound - Hydrogen
Lecture IV: Hydrogen in The Candle - Burns Into Water - The Other Part of Water - Oxygen
Lecture V: Oxygen Present in The Air - Nature of The Atmosphere - Carbonic Acid
Lecture VI: Carbon or Charcoal - Coal Gas - Respiration and Its Analogy to A Candle

You can read the lectures here.

They included 26 experiments, and among other things he showed how you could see the structure of a flame better by projecting its shadow on a wall. I tried this and here are the results. If you want to try this yourself, my tips are that bright sunlight works best for casting the shadow, and if you are going to photograph it, try reducing the exposure.

If you see something you like, and would like to use or have a print of, email photos at subjectline dot co dot uk.