CO2 Candle Extinguisher

Recently my 6 year old daughter and I created a very simple CO2 candle extinguisher.  To do this we had to first produce some CO2.  Fortunately this is easy to do and we've done it before in other experiments.  Simply take a spoonful or two of baking soda and place it in a tall glass.  Then take a spoonful or two of vinegar and dump it in the same glass.  The vinegar will react with the baking soda and produce CO2.  The CO2 is more dense than air, so it stays near the bottom of the glass.  Now take this glass and slowly "pour" the CO2 into another empty glass.  Try not to let any liquid escape the first glass.  You won't actually see the CO2 pour into the glass, so use your imagination.  Watch the video below to see our successful attempt.

Now take the "empty" CO2 glass and pour the CO2 into the candle container.  We learned that small candles work best.  Large candle jars have too much oxygen in the jar and although the flame my flicker and dim, it doesn't go out entirely.  If you do things right, the small candle should go out due to the lack of oxygen.  The CO2, being more dense, sinks and fills in the space surrounding the candle flame, preventing the flame from accessing the needed oxygen.  Very cool!