- Related Topics:
- ambergris
- Beeswax
- carnauba wax
- spermaceti
- Chinese wax
wax
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What is wax?
Waxes are pliable substances of animal, plant, mineral, or synthetic origin. Compared to fats, they are less greasy, harder, and more brittle. Many melt between 35° and 100° C (95° and 212° F) and form hard films that can be polished to a high gloss, making them ideal for polishes.
Animal and plant waxes are esters from a reaction between fatty acids and alcohols other than glycerol. Beeswax, the most widely distributed and important animal wax, has gliding and lubricating properties and is used in waterproofing. Carnauba wax, from a Brazilian palm tree, is very hard and used in high-gloss polishes. About 90% of wax for commercial purposes comes from petroleum.
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What are some natural sources of wax?
Waxes come from animals, plants, minerals, and synthetic sources.
Plant sources of wax:
* Carnauba wax From a Brazilian palm tree, it is very hard and used in high-gloss polishes.
* Candelilla wax Sourced from a plant in Texas and Mexico.
* Sugarcane wax From sugarcane leaves and stalks.Animal sources of wax:
* Beeswax Secreted by worker bees.
* Wool wax (lanolin) A by-product of scouring raw wool from sheep.
* Spermaceti From sperm whales.
* Insect wax A waxlike substance secreted by an insect. Some insects, like the Chinese scale (Ericerus pe-la), secrete wax from their bodies.Additionally, waxes can be recovered from petroleum or created synthetically.
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What are common uses of wax in everyday life?
Waxes are versatile substances used in many aspects of daily life. Prized for their pliability, hardness, and ability to be polished to a high gloss, waxes are ideal for polishes.
Common applications include:
* Candles Paraffin wax is a primary component of candles. Beeswax is also used in quality candles.
* Coatings Microcrystalline wax coats paper for packaging.
* Polishes Carnauba wax is a key ingredient in furniture, leather, car, and shoe polishes.
* Cosmetics Petrolatum is used in cosmetics, and carnauba wax can be found in lipsticks. Lanolin, a purified form of wool wax, is used as a cosmetic base.
* Waterproofing Paraffin wax can be used for waterproofing wood.
* Pharmaceuticals Petrolatum is used in the manufacture of medicinal ointments. Carnauba wax is used to polish medicinal pills.
* Beekeeping Beeswax is a by-product of beekeeping and has many uses in agriculture, art, and industry.5 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How is wax made or produced?
Waxes are pliable substances that come from animals, plants, minerals, or synthetic sources. They are less greasy, harder, and more brittle than fats.
Types and How They Are Produced
- Beeswax Beekeepers salvage beeswax from honeycombs by melting the wax in water heated to 145 °F (63 °C). The wax rises to the surface, cools, and hardens.
- Petroleum wax About 90% of commercial wax is recovered from petroleum through lubricating-oil stocks. The process involves the crystallization of wax from lubricating oil fractions, using solvents like benzene and methyl ethyl ketone, chilling the solution, and filtering out the wax crystals.
- Paraffin wax Obtained from petroleum by dewaxing light lubricating oil stocks. Synthetic paraffin wax can also be produced from coal gas through the Fischer-Tropsch reaction.
- Vegetable waxes These waxes, such as carnauba wax from a Brazilian palm tree and candelilla wax from a plant in Texas and Mexico, are derived from plants.
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How does wax react to heat or cold?
Waxes are pliable substances that can come from animals, plants, minerals, or synthetic sources. They share physical properties, such as melting at moderate temperatures, specifically between 35° and 100° C (95° and 212° F).
When heat is applied to a solid wax, its temperature rises until it reaches its melting point. At this point, the wax transitions from a solid to a liquid without changing temperature. Further heating will then increase the temperature of the liquid wax.
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What are the differences between beeswax, paraffin wax, and other types of waxes?
Waxes are pliable substances from animal, plant, mineral, or synthetic sources, sharing properties with fats but are less greasy, harder, and more brittle.
Beeswax is an animal wax from worker bees, used in candles, cosmetics, and waterproofing. Beeswax ranges from yellow to almost black and consists mainly of free cerotic acid and myricin.
Paraffin wax, derived from petroleum, is a colorless or white, hard wax used in candles, wax paper, and electrical insulators.
Other waxes include carnauba wax from Brazilian palm trees, used in high-gloss polishes, and synthetic waxes from ethylene glycol, often blended with petroleum waxes.
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wax, any of a class of pliable substances of animal, plant, mineral, or synthetic origin that differ from fats in being less greasy, harder, and more brittle and in containing principally compounds of high molecular weight (e.g., fatty acids, alcohols, and saturated hydrocarbons). Waxes share certain characteristic physical properties. Many of them melt at moderate temperatures (i.e., between about 35° and 100° C, or 95° and 212° F) and form hard films that can be polished to a high gloss, making them ideal for use in a wide array of polishes. They do share some of the same properties as fats. Waxes and fats, for example, are soluble in the same solvents and both leave grease spots on paper.
Notwithstanding such physical similarities, animal and plant waxes differ chemically from petroleum, or hydrocarbon, waxes and synthetic waxes. They are esters that result from a reaction between fatty acids and certain alcohols other than glycerol, either of a group called sterols (e.g., cholesterol) or an alcohol containing 12 or a larger even number of carbon atoms in a straight chain (e.g., cetyl alcohol). The fatty acids found in animal and vegetable waxes are almost always saturated. They vary from lauric to octatriacontanoic acid (C37H75COOH). Saturated alcohols from C12 to C36 have been identified in various waxes. Several dihydric (two hydroxyl groups) alcohols have been separated, but they do not form a large proportion of any wax. Also, several unidentified branched-chain fatty acids and alcohols have been found in minor quantities. Several cyclic sterols (e.g., cholesterol and analogues) make up major portions of wool wax.
Only a few vegetable waxes are produced in commercial quantities. Carnauba wax, which is very hard and is used in some high-gloss polishes, is probably the most important of these. It is obtained from the surface of the fronds of a species of palm tree native to Brazil. A similar wax, candelilla wax, is obtained commercially from the surface of the candelilla plant, which grows wild in Texas and Mexico. Sugarcane wax, which occurs on the surface of sugarcane leaves and stalks, is obtainable from the sludges of cane-juice processing. Its properties and uses are similar to those of carnauba wax, but it is normally dark in colour and contains more impurities. Other cuticle waxes occur in trace quantities in such vegetable oils as linseed, soybean, corn (maize), and sesame. They are undesirable because they may precipitate when the oil stands at room temperature, but they can be removed by cooling and filtering. Cuticle wax accounts for the beautiful gloss of polished apples.
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Beeswax, the most widely distributed and important animal wax, is softer than the waxes mentioned and finds little use in gloss polishes. It is used, however, for its gliding and lubricating properties as well as in waterproofing formulations. Wool wax, the main constituent of the fat that covers the wool of sheep, is obtained as a by-product in scouring raw wool. Its purified form, called lanolin, is used as a pharmaceutical or cosmetic base because it is easily assimilated by the human skin. Sperm oil and spermaceti, both obtained from sperm whales, are liquid at ordinary temperatures and are used mainly as lubricants.
About 90 percent of the wax used for commercial purposes is recovered from petroleum by dewaxing lubricating-oil stocks. Petroleum wax is generally classified into three principal types: paraffin (see paraffin wax), microcrystalline, and petrolatum. Paraffin is widely used in candles, crayons, and industrial polishes. It is also employed for insulating components of electrical equipment and for waterproofing wood and certain other materials. Microcrystalline wax is used chiefly for coating paper for packaging, and petrolatum is employed in the manufacture of medicinal ointments and cosmetics. Synthetic wax is derived from ethylene glycol, an organic compound commercially produced from ethylene gas. It is commonly blended with petroleum waxes to manufacture a variety of products.