Christmas: Science Picture Challenge #1: Sparkling Diamonds for Christmas!

mountain.phil28 (59)in #sciencepic • 7 years ago

Dear fellow Steemians!
This is my submission to the announced and currently open #sciencepic picture challenge - more precisely: its' Christmas Edition! I really appreciate the commitment of @mcw and @steemstem and want to thank both. :)

This picture was taken by myself: my grandparents Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree on Christmas Eve... Isn't the tree a great pleasure over and over again? The lushy green, the decorations, the sweets and of course: the candles. Those are the things which compose its' very beauty, that pleasures our eyes and which seeps in our pieceful christmas minds.

But have you ever thought about, what exactly is going on in a candles flame? So now here we go:

It is said, that the candle was invented roughly 2000 years ago in China.
The dissipating heat of the flame allows the wax to melt and evaporate.
Both directly vaporized wax, as well as molten wax that climbs up the wick enters the flame from the bottom.
The fuel enters in form of hydrocarbons ("wax") and is converted to carbon dioxide by the time it reaches the the top of the candle flame.
Although combustion processes are known to fundamentally be radical processes, it has long been unknown which intermediate species are formed within the flame.
Dr. Wuzong Zhou (from the University of St. Andrews) developed a sampling technique by which means he was able to remove particles from the centre of the flame.
An analysis of these particles gave amazing results: the sample contained all four known forms of carbon! - This was surprising, because these forms are usually formed under different conditions.
The found species were fullerenic particles, graphitic and amorphous carbon as well as diamond nanoparticles!
According to his investigations approximately 1.5 million diamond nanoparticles are formed every second in which a candle burns!
Not only that these findings allow hopes for modern manufacturing methods, but also the magical glimmer of candlelight could be explained by those burning nano-diamonds!

I hope you have learned something from these 10 points and especially that science can reveal marvellousness in the most unexpected places. - Happy Christmas! :)

Best,
mountain.phil28

References:
a. A Phys Org Article
b. A BBC News Article
c. A The Telegraph Article
d. A Science Ticker Article

#science #steemstem #chemistry #physics