Thread: How come when you heat wax and stick it in water it explodes?

How come when you heat wax and stick it in water it explodes?

This is a science lab i did in class and my teacher is giving out extra credit if i can figure out why the wax combusted. I already know that vaporised water forces the liquid wax into the air, but why does it go on fire. Thanks.
I am wondering why when the wax is put into the water fire shoots out. Their is then a huge wax explosion.

The wax doesn't actually explode, which is an exothermic reaction, but when the cool water contacts the hot wax, it causes a rapid contraction of the wax which causes it to rapidly come apart. Since much of the wax is still brittle yet still hot, it's unable to relieve the stress of rapid cooling so it breaks down. Many brittle materials, like glass, for example, do the same thing when heated and rapidly cooled.