Energy from burning

Little Nancy Etticoat, With a white petticoat, And a red nose;

She has no feet or hands,

The longer she stands, The shorter she grows.

Mother Goose

Who is Nancy Etticoat? You’ve seen her often, especially on birthdays.
She’s a candle! The “petticoat” is the melting wax, and the “red nose”
is the flame. And a candle certainly gets shorter! The wax is used up as
the candle burns.

The candle wax has a kind of stored-up energy. It’s a fuel
[(fyoo]{.smallcaps} uhl). A fuel is

something that is burned to make light, heat, or a push that makes
things move. The coal, oil, and gas used to heat houses are all fuels.
So is the gasoline in a car or the wood in a fireplace.

The same thing happens to every kind of fuel when it burns-. When it
starts burning, the heat makes it break down and change to other things,
such as ashes. As the fuel breaks down, it gives off energy. Some of the
energy is light, and some is heat.

When oil or gasoline is burned in a car engine, the heat energy makes
the engine push—and the push from the engine makes the car run.

The energy stored in a fuel is called chemical [(kehm]{.smallcaps} uh
kuhl) energy.