Talk:Wax/Archive 1

Coment
In the article, I read
 * a wax is an ester of glycerol (ethane 1,2-diol) and two fatty acids, as opposed to a fat which is an ester of glycerin (propane 1,2,3-triol) and three fatty acids.

This seems to be incorrect. 'glycerol' is a redirect to 'glycerin', and I believe I remember the two words to be synonyms. The term for ethane 1,2-diol is Glycol (or Ethylene glycol). Now, either:
 * 1) a wax is an ester of glycol and two fatty acids...
 * 2) a wax and a fat are both esters of glycerol/glycerin and three fatty acids.
 * 3) a wax and a fat are both esters of glycerol/glycerin, but wax has two fatty acids, and fat has three fatty acids.

The difference is not in glycerol/glycerin, but in number of fatty acids. 212.200.199.110 17:35, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

I don't know which one is true. --Johan Lont
 * In the mean time, I found the following text on
 * All waxes are water-resistant materials made up of various substances including hydrocarbons (n-alkanes), ketones, diketones, primary and secondary alcohols, aldehydes, alkanoic acids, terpenes (squalene) and monoesters, all with long or very long carbon chains (fture (fusion point between 60 and 100°C). More commonly, waxes are esters of an alcohol other than glycerol (long chain alcohol, sterol, hydroxycarotenoids, vitamin A) and a long chain acid (wax esters).
 * Apparently, the first option was true - I'll change the article

Conflicting Information?
Paraffin wax is given as an example of "a mineral wax" in the opening statements but is later classified as a Petroleum Wax... following the Paraffin link could not resolve this issue as the Paraffin article gives no indication of the source of the substance, only a general chemical makeup and usage list. So, which is it, petrol or mineral?
 * The two statement aren't contradictory. Petroleum is generally considered a mineral product.--Pharos 19:28, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

This article tells me what a wax is
But gives me no idea what is it used for. Anyone able to tell me? Pcb21 Pete 16:53, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Few minor details
When discussing waxes, paraffin is a petroleum based wax, not a mineral based. Mineral based waxes applies moreso to the wax industry based out of Germany and Poland where actual minerals are mined from the ground and chemically altered to produce wax-like properties. Also, a wax isn't a single molecule, as is suggested by the earlier statements about it being an ester. All waxes used today are mixtures, not a single chemical. For example, most paraffin waxes are comprised mainly of normal alkanes ranging from C18 - C36, and microcrystalline waxes are comprised mainly of saturated branched and cyclic hydrocarbons with much higher numbers of carbon atoms.

I don't entirely agree. Paraffin waxes are commonly known as "mineral waxes", in the same way that products such as brightstock and solvent pale oils (produced via the same refining processes) are known as "mineral oils". Not sure what you mean by "minerals are mined from the ground and chemically altered to produce wax like properties", unless you are referring to Fischer-Tropsch waxes, which are produced from coal gas, but these are actual waxes, not simply materials with "wax like properties".

I'm also not sure about the statement "all waxes used today are mixtures, not a single chemical". They may not be a single chemical compound, because even among fully refined paraffin waxes you will always get a spread of molecular weights, but this has always been the case, it doesn't simply refer to the situation "today". It is also possible to achieve waxy type materials that are single species chemical compond, e.g. ethylene bis-stearamide, or stearic acid. SimonUK 10:24, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Merger with Hard wax
I have suggested this merger due to the lack of information available about wax with a certain property. I will perform the merger 12 days from now, on april 27th. If anyone has any objections, please let me know on my talk page. Thank you, Ard0(Talk - Contribs) 16:45, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Merge complete (which basically consisted of turning the Hard wax article into a redirect) Ciotog 00:54, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

wahts gases are released...
hi friends. i wanted to know what all gaseous are released when we light candel. or wax when WAX is burned wheather the released gas is toxic or not, wheather it effect the earth global warming or contribute to it —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.195.225.203 (talk) 14:53, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Religious details
There are detailed references in this article to religious rituals that involve candles. The article gives especial prominence to Wicca. This, especially the prominenence given to a minor religious movement, would be barely appropriate even in the article on candles. This article is about wax, not candles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.181.79.60 (talk) 14:47, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Friction
I came here looking for info on the friction characteristics of wax. Wax (as a coating) appears to have a large difference between dynamic and static friction. The word 'friction' does not appear in the article as of April 2010. 79.75.118.77 (talk) 12:27, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Pysanky
In pysanky, wax is used as a progressive mask while dyeing the eggshells, and removed to show the finished object. The picture caption implies that wax is the carrier of the color and remains visible in the finished object, which is false. I propose removing the picture and caption as the picture shows no actual wax. Cstaffa (talk) 00:01, 15 July 2017 (UTC) Cstaffa (talk) 00:01, 15 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, pysanky are decorated using a wax-resist method similar to batik. If you look closely at the picture of the Czech eggs you will see that they are, in fact, decorated with colored wax. This article's text needs adjustment to reflect all that. If someone else doesn't get there first, I may find time to do it soon. Just plain Bill (talk) 00:25, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

Nutrition or other properties to note?
Does waxes have any nutritional uses, are they save to digest? How much energy you get by burning wax candle? (188.238.166.178 (talk) 10:00, 30 January 2018 (UTC))

Organic wax
Is natural wax and organic wax the same or different from each other? 2401:4900:517E:E64E:2FD:6007:B399:86CB (talk) 10:08, 6 December 2021 (UTC)


 * All waxes are organic compounds. What do you mean by organic wax? Plant surfer 20:23, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

To-Do List
1.     Update references; provide more primary articles; add in the citation for “Proper refining of LPW to produce polyethylene wax is especially important when being used in applications requiring FDA or other regulatory certification”.

2.     Need a little more information under “Candles” and “Wax products”.

3.     What is the importance of mentioning the melting point of animal wax? Need to specify the importance.

4.     May include a section explaining how the melting point of different types of waxes affect their uses.

5.     May include a table summarizing the differences and similarities in the different kinds of wax. OppositeWorlds (talk) 02:27, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: CHEM 300
— Assignment last updated by RS UBC800 (talk) 21:17, 2 April 2023 (UTC)