Matter 1: Candle

This aromatherapy candle (called Sweet Blossoms) is my first choice of matter.

This matter goes through a physical change when heat energy is applied. By lighting this candle with a match, I am applying heat energy and therefore causing the substance to change its phase. The wax in the candle melts; it goes from being a solid, to a liquid. The molecules are remaining the same, but the phase they are in is changing.

This substance also has a chemical change. For instance, according to HowStuffWorks.com, “The wick [of a candle] absorbs the liquid wax and pulls it upward. The heat of the flame vaporizes the wax, and it is the wax vapor that burns.” I can tell that the candle is going through a chemical change because I can sense a change in smell. When energy is released, the molecules change into a vapor, mix with the oxygen in the air, and take the shape of its container (the room).