Australia's Science Forum

G'day all,
I wonder if any of my colleagues know of a supplier of TAPERS?
They are slim candles and when new are approx. 23cms long and 7mm thick.
They are very handy for testing for hydrogen and oxygen gases produced in test tubes.
~Robyn

I used to buy tapers from Q stores but haven't seen them lately.

I instead cut some paddlepop sticks lengthwise with a pair of scissors & these seem to work just as well. Saves having to scrape wax off the benches too.

Judy

Buy a box of Applicator sticks from Q stores 836380, costs about $5 for a box of 1000. I only buy those now, cheap as chips, no waxy drips, and perfect dimensions. Since buying those, my teachers refuse to use any other tapers R-S!

Hi Rainbow-sky
I use the paddle pop sticks but have changed over to wooden skewers from the super market as they are longer - for those students who are hesitant about the 'bang'
regards juliem

I'm also a fan of the skewers. They're easy to get hold of and cheap. Best of all there are no wax drips and anything that minimises wax clogging up the bunsens gets my vote!

Thanks Rainbow-Sky - the applicators from Qstores are much cheaper even than buying the skewers - the new number is 2550113.

thanks for the new Q stores number for the wooden applicators... noted on the box for future reference!

We used to use the wooden skewers but now the teachers prefer just to use a thick string.