Glow sticks are a standard accessory to parties for decades. Every party, festival or school dance can be complete without the addition of a few glow sticks to the mix. Have you ever considered the scientific basis of glow sticks? What is it that makes glow sticks glow? What does it have to do with them? have to do with fireflies? What’s the reason they’re the only source of light suitable for use in an emergency?
How does light get created? Let me excite your atoms…
The process of creating light occurs by the moment an external source of energy stimulates atoms, causing them to release a plethora of energy known as photons.
For instance when you turn the light bulb on it generates heat energy which causes atoms to become excited and speed up. When they speed up, they collide with each other with greater force, and transfer energy to the electrons of the atom. They are temporarily “excited by the point of higher energy and then when they return their initial level, they release a portion of their energy in the form light photons.
There are a myriad of methods that can be employed to produce light, however the two most acquainted with in everyday life are:
Incandescence: Light is released due to heat. This is how fire generates light, and the same way that your typical light bulb functions.
Phosphorescence and fluorescence The emission of light is caused by radiation energy. This is how television displays and fluorescent lights bulbs generate light.
Glow sticks produce light in the same manner – many excited atoms smashing against each other, and emitting energy through light photons. However, instead of radiation or heat an chemical reaction is utilized to activate the atoms of the material. This process is known as chemiluminescence.
What’s chemiluminesence and what’s it for when you’re at home?
Chemiluminescence can be described as one of the applications from a naturally occurring phenomenon known as luminescence. Basically, luminescence refers to the process of producing luminescence without heating.
It is everywhere in nature. Glow worms and fireflies use luminescence to attract mates. the Anglerfish (that huge fish that is scary that is featured in Finding Nemo) uses it to lure prey.
Chemiluminescence recreates the luminescence seen in nature, by mixing a variety of chemical substances to produce an chemical reaction. As the compounds mix, the atoms inside them reorganize to create new compounds. The energy produced by this chemical reaction is reflected in luminescence.
In essence the glow sticks emit luminescence when two chemical compounds combine. The glow stick is merely a container that houses the chemical mixtures for the reaction.
The majority of glow sticks are composed of two compartments. A smaller, brittle container is placed within an outer, flexible plastic container. Each of these containers contains the chemical compound.
If you twist the stick in a bend, the hard outer container snaps, releasing the contents into the substances in the outside container. This is when the atoms of your body become excited and begin release energy through light.
The glass bottle contains diphenyl oxalate as well as an fluorescent dye. The solution is enclosed in a plastic casing, which also houses hydrogen peroxide solutions. If the glass bottle is snapped the two solutions are mixed. The resulting chemical reaction causes the appearance of a glowing. It is important to note that these chemicals may irritate your skin, and the glass vials can produce sharp shards when they are snapped. We do not advise dismantling the glow stick.
Since glow sticks use the chemical reaction in sealed tubes to produce light, they are the most safe kind of light that you can utilize following a catastrophic event. In situations where the temperature that is required by incandescent lights could be harmful, glow lights are the best choice.
If you’re in process of preparing your underground bunker for the event of apocalypse We’ve got that glow stick you’ll require.
Here’s the scientific part…
Typically, bulk glow sticks utilize the chemical reaction of the solution of hydrogen peroxide and a solution containing diphenyl oxide and an fluorescent dye. It’s like this:
Diphenyl Oxalate is oxidized through hydrogen peroxide. This creates an unsteady chemical (1,2-dioxtanedione).
The insoluble compound breaks down into carbon dioxide and releases energy to the fluorescent dye as it goes about its business.
Energy released triggers electrons within the dye atoms jump into a higher state. Once they return to their normal levels, the electrons let their energy out in the form light.
Chemical reactions are irreversible that’s why glow sticks have only one function. However, you can slow or speed up the reaction by using the heat.
Make a glow stick warm under your armpit. The additional heat energy speeds up the reaction. The object (the glow stick and not the armpit) will be brighter for a shorter time. Put your glow stick into the freezer to reduce the speed of reaction. The light will dim but its glow lasts much longer.
However, if it takes a while or is slow when it occurs, in the end all the diphenyloxalate and hydrogen peroxide will be consumed due to an chemical reaction. When one of these substances is exhausted the glow stick ceases shining.
What is it that makes glow sticks glow in different colors?
A variety of chemical compounds can be utilized to produce the chemiluminescence. Based on the chemical employed, as well as the type of dye utilized, the glow sticks emits different colored light.
