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| How to Make a Glowstick |
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| Those glowing Mountain Dew videos with peroxide and baking soda are all hoaxes. |
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| To truly make a glowstick without breaking an already-made glowstick and shoving its contents into a tube (also known as cheating), you've gotta let your inner scientist out (along with a few dollars). |
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| If you're still curious, read on. |
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| This is fun for anyone and everyone. |
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| Method One of Two: Using Luminol |
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| Put on protective glasses. |
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| In addition, wear gloves to protect your skin. |
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| It's also a good idea to not wear your Sunday best. |
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| Throw on some old clothes or put a smock over clothes you want protected. |
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| Some of this stuff is dangerous -- this experiment is not meant for children! |
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| Listen up, kids: You'll be working with a solution that's near a 12 on the pH scale. |
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| That basically means don't swallow it, don't put it in your eyes, don't bathe in it, and don't really expose yourself to it directly at all. |
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| Got it? |
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| Moving on. |
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| Combine 50 milliliters of hydrogen peroxide and a liter of distilled water in a mixing bowl. |
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| A ceramic bowl will work best, but plastic works too. |
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| Use funnels, measuring tubes, and basters to keep everything well-measured and well away from you. |
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| Hydrogen peroxide is used to replace the luminol's nitrogen atoms with oxygen. |
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| When that happens, all the substances create a rave and start partying and electrons fly everywhere and what results? |
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| The glow. |
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| Mix .2 grams of luminol, 4 grams of sodium carbonate, .4 grams of copper sulfate, .5 grams of ammonium carbonate and 1 liter (0.3 US gal) of distilled water in a second bowl. |
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| It is important not to touch the luminol. |
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| Use a funnel to make everything safe and easy. |
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| Unfortunately, these hazardous chemicals will not float freely in mid-air like this graphic suggests. |
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| Yep, unless you're a coroner or some sort of crazy spy / criminologist you probably don't have this stuff lying around the house (hopefully not ...). |
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| If you're dead set on starting your own glowstick business (worse ideas exist), try websites like Alfa Aesar [1] or Sigma Aldrich [2] for supplies. |
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| Mix everything well. |
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| Don't use your hands -- use a metal or plastic utensil of some sort. |
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| Clean the containers and dry them thoroughly. |
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| It's important to use sanitary, clean tubes for your glowsticks. |
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| The last thing you want is other substances interacting with the reactions you're depending on to make the substances glow. |
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| Set the correct lid next to each container. |
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| This enables you to seal the containers quickly after filling. |
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| It's not like the glow will get up and run away from you, but still. |
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| Combine equal amounts of the first and second solution in the container and close the bottles. |
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| Shake them up once the lids are on tightly. |
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| Then turn off the lights! |
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| If it's not already glowing, something went wrong. |
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| Do over! |
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| Watch as the chemical compound creates a colorful glow. |
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| Take your glowsticks to the party and charge your friends loads of money for them! |
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| But act quickly ... |
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| the glow won't last very long. |
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| Expectations crushed? |
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| Method two to the rescue! |
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| The reaction that the luminol and hydrogen peroxide creates doesn't last long at all -- maybe a couple of minutes. |
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| For something that lasts hours, go to the next method (which is a lot easier to facilitate if you have access to a laboratory, but it's still worth mentioning). |