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Author Topic:   WintOGreen Lifesavers spark in the dark
SunChild
Moderator

Posts: 4032
From: Australia
Registered: Jan 2004

posted May 05, 2005 09:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SunChild     Edit/Delete Message
FYI:

Try this yourself. Stand in the dark in front of a mirror. Put a WintOGreen Lifesaver in your mouth. (It has to

be a fresh one; if it is soggy you get no sparks.) Crunch down hard on the Llifesaver and bingo -- sparks!

Bluish sparks will burst from your mouth. It's a fabulous sweet spark. Tiny but impressive.

Why does this happen? It's called triboluminescence. That's what happens when crystals fracture.

Triboluminescence is the light that is the result of crystals crushing or tearing.

Here's what happens.

Everything around us is made up of atoms like carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. The

atoms are made up of tiny particles -- electrons, protons and neutrons. Atoms cluster together in groups

called molecules. When you crunch the sugar crystals, electrons break loose and zip around. Invisible

nitrogenmolecules that are in the air can detect an opening where the electrons have broken free, and

zoom into that spot. All this happens very fast. The electrons that broke off the sugar crystals in the first

place decide they want to return to the fold, but since the nitrogen molecules are already there, the

electrons crash into the nitrogen. They re-combine with a bang. And that crashing together results in

light -- in fact, in ultraviolet radiation. It's totally safe; you can't get a sunburn from this tiny spark. But it is

impressive.

Add the fact that this ultraviolet radiation has hit the wintergreen flavouring (which is called

methyl salicylate) and you get the bluish tinge to the glow. You can actually get almost all crystal sugar

candy to give you a bit of light when it is crushed. This was first noticed in Italy in the seventeenth

century. But for most crystal candy it is a rather dim light. It takes wintergreen to really light up your life.

It's probably much more scientific than you need to know -- but now you do. The important thing is that

it's fun. And it is a good party trick too -- just don't break your teeth!

--http://www.dearanswerlady.com/html/lifes.html--

------------------
"The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle." Anais Nin

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Philbird
Knowflake

Posts: 3396
From: Here, there and everywhere.
Registered: Jun 2004

posted May 05, 2005 10:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philbird     Edit/Delete Message
This must have been the people who did the scienticic study on the Twinkie! One of the tests was dropping it off the Empire State building, and it bounced! Cool!

You can also make sparks by holding a wool blanket over your body in th winter and kicking wildly with your feet, in the dark, sparks!

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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted May 06, 2005 06:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message
I knew that about WintOGreen Lifesavers! they are my favorite anyway.

Phil, I can see you wildly kicking around the covers! lol

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LovelyLibraLady
Knowflake

Posts: 145
From: Gotham City
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 06, 2005 08:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LovelyLibraLady     Edit/Delete Message
gotta try that now!

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26taurus
Knowflake

Posts: 13411
From: *
Registered: Jun 2004

posted May 07, 2005 08:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 26taurus     Edit/Delete Message
When my brother and I were kids, we'd buy a pack and sit in the bathroom (darkest room in the house), crunch on them and watch em spark up. The littlest things would entertain us.

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