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Where is the hottest spot above a lit candle? In the flame or just above the flame tip or some cm above the flame or other?

Update

My question more precisely concerns the heat energy I can get from a candle. I can see that isn't necessarily the hottest part. So to make the question more accurate:

From which part/point of the candle can I get the most heat energy pr. time unit? E.g. if I was to warm something up, which part the candle would then be the most efficient heater?

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I wish people would google such simple questions: "temperature of candle" brought up the wiki answer en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle . Searching for "hottest" you get the answer: "The hottest part of the flame is just above the very dull blue part to one side of the flame, at the base. At this point, the flame is about 1,400 °C. However note that this part of the flame is very small and releases little heat energy." – anna v Nov 29 '12 at 14:19
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@Annav: The article you refer to contradicts itself as to what part of the flame is the hottest and provides neither sources nor explanations for those claims. – Marcks Thomas Nov 29 '12 at 14:41
@MarcksThomas it does quote a source (7) though a teacher's aid.Further more the google search brings a number of answers, more illuminating , for example pysanky.info/Chemistry/Candle_Flame.html . These are as good answers as one could get here. – anna v Nov 29 '12 at 14:51
Thanks for links. I can see my question didn't explain the point well enough. See my update. – Steeven Nov 30 '12 at 7:52
And by the way @annav, when I search on Google for "temperature of candle" I don't see your second link. Actually I don't see any usefull pages besides the wikipedia page you have mentioned. I'm sorry, but I don't see this question as ordinary as you. Through my research after this information I didn't find a usefull answer. – Steeven Nov 30 '12 at 7:58

1 Answer

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In the flame.

According to NASA it's the white part.

NASA Flame

According to ChemistryViews it's mid-way between wick and edge

ChemView Flame

... hot reaction Zones II and III ... The concentration of OH radicals is highest at the outer edge of the reaction zones, which is why one finds there also the highest temperature, ca. 1400 °C.

I guess these views may not be inconsistent, as the visible edge of the flame may not be at the boundary of the flow of hot or warm gases and particles from combustion (and perhaps entrained/convected air).

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Thanks a lot. Nice links. See my update above - I'm sorry for the slight confusion. – Steeven Nov 30 '12 at 8:00

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