How Does A Glow Stick Work?

Summer is just a few months away and at the summer fairs and especially July 4th celebrations, kids are going to have great fun with colorful glow stick products. Do you know how a glow stick works?

If you have used a glow stick before, you would know to activate it. You simply bend the glow stick just enough to break the internal glass vial. Then you shake the glow stick to mix the chemicals inside well for full glow.

A glow stick is simply a transparent plastic tube containing isolated chemical substances, which includes a glass vial and a mixture of chemicals: dye and diphenyl oxalate. Inside the glass vial is a special chemical liquid called hydrogen peroxide. When mixing the dye, diphenyl oxalate and hydrogen peroxide by breaking the glass vial, it creates a chemical reaction that generates light. The chemical reaction is know as chemiluminescence. The chemiluminescence reaction emits light but not heat.

A glow stick is also nonflammable, windproof and waterproof. These features make glow stick products perfect lighting source in emergency situations such as gas leak, blackout and road site emergencies. A glow stick does not require electrical power source to produce lights. This makes glow sticks convenient lighting source at outdoor activities such as camping.

The rate of chemical reaction inside a glowstick is affected by temperature. In high temperature, a glowstick glows brighter but for shorter length of time, and in low temperature, a glowstick is dimmer but glows longer.

A glow stick is non-toxic, but the contents may stain clothes and furniture. Glow stick products are intended for external use only and is not to be consumed or ingested. You should not cut open an activated glow stick, as the activated liquid even though non-toxic may contain tiny shards of glass which may cause injury.

Have fun with glow sticks in the coming summer and July 4th holiday!

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