Candle Flame Simulator (2D)

Candle Controls

Wick length 6 mm

Draft / airflow 0%

Flame burning steady in still air.

Live Readout

Wax remaining

100%

Flame height

0 mm

Burn time left

0:00

Drips

How it works

A candle burns by capillary action: heat from the flame melts a shallow pool of wax around the wick, and the wick draws that liquid wax upward where it vaporizes and combusts. A longer exposed wick pulls more wax per second and burns hotter and taller, but also melts the candle faster — this simulator scales melt rate and flame height together with wick length.

Draft (moving air) bends the flame sideways and thins it, which increases convective heat loss and speeds up melting, exactly as blowing across a candle makes it gutter. Past a threshold the flame can no longer sustain combustion and the candle blows out; below that threshold it recovers to a steady height once the draft settles.

As wax melts, the pool depth grows and occasional drips run down the side once the pool overflows its rim — each drip permanently lowers the remaining wax height, the way real wax never returns to the reservoir.

Flame Wax / drips Wick