Question

When you light a candle, the paraffin wax soon begins to melt. Paraffin wax is a covalent compound. Can you classify the melting of the wax as a chemical change or a physical change? If so, which is it? If you cannot classify it as chemical or physical, explain why not. Justify your answer by describing the forces involved in the change.


I am not sure how to answer this because while the burning of the candle is chemical, melting is just a physical change...

Answer 1

I think you should write it down as a physical change because here they are asking about the wax and not the thread or string in the middle.

Answer 2

Paraffin wax is a covalent compound, so when it melts the molecules simply pull away from each other, leaving the bonds intact, because of this Parffin wax melting is a physical change.