For the first time, he discovered the fact that in all oils and fats, regardless of their source, the content of fatty acids accounts for 95%, and the remaining 5% is glycerol produced during saponification. Through research, he made clear the essence of saponification process.
At the same time, he also made an important discovery: at that time, candles made of grease, because they contained glycerol, smelled like smoke and smelled bad when burned. If stearic acid is used as a candle, it will not only burn brightly, but also have almost no black smoke and will not pollute the air.
Extended data:
The principle of candles:
When the candle is lit, the initial flame is very small and gradually becomes larger. The flame is divided into three layers (outer flame, inner flame and flame core). The flame core is mainly candle vapor, which has the lowest temperature, and the internal flame paraffin is not fully burned, and the temperature is higher than that of the flame core.
Because there are some carbon particles, the outer flame is in full contact with air, the flame is the brightest, the combustion is full and the temperature is the highest. Therefore, when the matchstick is quickly laid flat in the flame and taken out after about 1 s, the part of the matchstick that contacts the external flame turns black first.
When you blow out the candle, you can see a wisp of white smoke. Igniting this wisp of white smoke with a burning match can rekindle the candle, so it can be proved that white smoke is a solid fine particle produced by the freezing of paraffin vapor.
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