Re: Why wont paper burn in a metal strainer when a candle is placed under it.

Thanks for the interesting question, Maria.

Since you haven’t described the experiment in great detail, I will make some assumptions about the materials used and how the experiment is set up.

My best guess as to why the paper won’t burn is because it doesn’t get hot enough. Since the strainer is made of metal (most metals are good conductors of heat) the strainer heats up where the candle is then the heat conducts away from that spot to and dissipates the heat to other parts of the strainer. A fundamental aspect of heat transfer is that heat flows from high temperature to low temperature.

This will keep the temperature of the paper below the combustion temperature. Previously, I answered a question about the combustion of paper here.

I have also answered another question regarding why different types of paper burn at different rates, which may be relevant to this question, too. Obviously, the more flame retardant a sheet of paper is, the less likely it will be to burn in the strainer.