Wax a Question Trivia Quiz

Answer: Food colouring is water-based, but candle wax is oil-based.

Making candles at home is a hobby many people like to do. The wax used in candles is oil-based, so it won't mix with water-based food colouring. Wax crayons can be melted and added to the mixture to colour candles, but they are not as effective as oil-based dyes.

Answer: A bee's abdomen

Beeswax is secreted from glands in a bee's abdomen, and is used to make honeycomb cells where the honey is stored within a hive. But bees aren't the only ones who have a use for beeswax. It is used in some cosmetics like lip balm and hand cream for its moisturising properties. Candles can be made of beeswax, too. Without dye, they will usually be pale yellow and releases a sweet smell as they burn.

Answer: Sealing wax

Before there were self-adhesive envelopes, there was sealing wax. A letter or document would be folded up or placed in an envelope, and then a small amount of wax would be poured on the overlapping paper. Before the wax hardened, the sender would press their seal into the wax.

In order to open the letter, the seal had to be broken, so it was obvious if it had been tampered with. The seal also identified the sender. Queen Elizabeth's seal identified her because it was a portrait with Tudor rose decorations and the phrase 'Elizabeth, by grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith' written in Latin around the edge.

Answer: The wax decreases friction.

If you want to ski downhill quickly, ski wax can help you do that. Applying the wax to the bottom of the skis decreases the amount of friction acting between the ski and the snow. Increasing air resistance (which is something ski wax can't do) would actually slow you down. Upthrust only works on objects floating in a gas or a liquid, and to increase gravity, you would need to increase the mass of the skier. Cross-country skiers sometimes use grip wax, which has the opposite effect: it increases friction between the skis and and the snow to make it easier to ski uphill.

Answer: Earwax

The technical term for earwax is 'cerumen'. It is secreted into the ear canal as a form of protection against dirt, bacteria, and anything else that might get in your ear. Other mammals also get a build up of wax in their ears. Whale earwax can be used to determine the animal's age if its teeth are missing.

Answer: Wax crayons

Wax crayons are usually associated with children's drawings, but it was those drawings that inspired Christian Faur to do something new with wax. On his website, he claimed to use crayons 'like pixels'. He arranged different coloured wax crayons vertically to create huge images of faces. Because the tips of the crayons was all that could be seen when looking head-on, his style was reminiscent of pointillism. Faur also created encaustic art using melted wax.

Answer: Hair wax

Brylcreem was a brand of hair wax first produced in 1928. It was created by County Chemicals in Birmingham, England. Hair wax is used to keep a hairstyle in place. Due to its extensive use, Brylcreem was closely associated with members of the RAF in World War Two - so much so that they were known as 'Brylcreem Boys'.

Answer: Paraffin

Paraffin wax has a number of different applications. Untreated, it is white and odourless, but can be dyed and scented and used to make candles. Paraffin can be used in crayons, too, and sometimes it is used as a moisturiser for skin in beauty treatments.

Answer: To protect the paint

Car wax creates a barrier between the paint and the world around it. Dirt, rain, and tree sap are just some of the many things that can cause damage to paintwork. Because it reduces friction, wax can also prevent scratches. Stones kicked up from the road are more likely to slide off a waxed surface without damaging the paint underneath.

Answer: It's the time between a new moon and a full moon.

From Earth, the moon looks like a disc. The sun shines on the moon throughout a lunar month, but the proportion of the disc that is lit varies. During a new moon, only a small proportion of the disc is visible, if any is visible at all. Over time, a larger proportion of the moon will be lit until it reaches a full moon, where the whole disc is lit by sunlight.

The period between a new moon and a full moon is called a waxing moon.