HOW MUCH LIGHT IS PRODUCED WITH DIFFERENT COLORS OF GLOW STICKS
IN DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES OF WATER HOW WRAPPED IN TISSUE PAPER
Colin Zhu
Cary Academy
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this experiment was to see how much light a glow stick could produce in
different temperatures and wrapped in tissue paper. Light is produced by electrons
getting excited which produce photons. Tissue paper was wrapped around a glowing
purple glow stick and the light was measured coming through the tissue paper. The
results were the more times tissue paper wrapped around a glow stick the less light that
comes through. This happens because the layers of tissue paper block the light and the
more layers there are the more light that is blocked.
INTRODUCTION
Glow sticks are a fun glow in dark sticks that are used for many different purposes, but
how do they work? The typical glow stick contains an oxalate ester and dye solution
within a plastic stick, and hydrogen peroxide within a small, fragile vial in the middle of
the stick. When the stick is cracked, the vial breaks open, and all the chemicals come
together. The oxalate ester and hydrogen peroxide react, sometimes with the help of a
catalyst, to form a peroxyacid ester and phenol. The peroxyacid ester decomposes to
form more phenol and carbon dioxide, producing energy that excites all the molecules.
When this process happens to the molecule the electron jumps to the outer shell. The
molecules loses the energy to remain at the “excited” energy level and falls back down
and that is when the electron falls back down releasing a photon with the same amount
of energy as the fall. When the molecules fall back to their normal state and release
energy in a form of photons, a basic unit of light. The light that is seen is from the
hydrogen peroxide combined with oxalyl chloride and a fluorescent dye produced the
cold chemical light. With this process glow sticks get their light and color, but the light
and color is not forever.
Glow sticks last a very long time, but they get dimmer and eventually become nothing.
Glow sticks typically last 6-12 hours depending on size, color, and type. When the
molecule makes the photons and electron falls back down the electron is used up. The
molecule can then use electrons on the inside layer which know the outside layer
because of the disappeared electron. The molecule can also use electrons from other
atoms. The photons disappear and the light fades away. Glow sticks cannot be reusable
because once the vial breaks open and all the chemicals are used up to make the
molecules “excited”. The chemicals also get the glow stick its color. Cold can help
increase the time the glow stick lasts by slowing the production, but the light is weaker.
Heat can increase the brightness, but the amount of time the glow stick lasts is not as
long. Glow sticks lose their light because of the lack of chemicals to make the electrons
“excited” again.
Temperature can affect the result of lots of things and one of those things is a glow
stick. The colder the temperature the longer the light lasts inside the glow sticks. The
reason for this is because the process where the molecules produced atoms is slowed
down. The electron jumps down a level after all the energy is used and produces the
same amount of light as the jump, but since the process is slowed down the energy
cannot be produced for the electron. This also allows the light to last longer. If a glow
stick is hotter than room temperature the process speeds up. This time the opposite
happens and the electron get more energy and jump is more energized so it is lighter.
Since this process is faster than usual the glow sticks lights up faster. The glow sticks
also dim faster because of the faster process. Temperature has a huge effect on glow
sticks. If it is a cold temperature the glow sticks are dimmer, but last a lot longer than
usual. If the temperature is hot the glow sticks then glows brighter, but the glow stick
does not last as long.
Olivia Frazier did an experiment on what color glow stick has the brightest glow. Green
glows the brightest 23.4lux and dimmest is yellow with 5 lux. Pink and orange were
between Green and Yellow. Olivia concluded with the brighter the color on paper the
brighter the glow sticks. Olivia also found out the hotter the glow sticks the brighter the
glow stick. Glow sticks were put into different temperatures of water and the hotter the
water the brighter the glow sticks. This was like real life because when it is hotter it is
brighter. Olivia also found out that the higher the hydrogen peroxide constantration the
brighter the glow stick. Olivia did and experiment with 30 hydrogen peroxide
constantration and 3 hydrogen peroxide constantration in a glow stick and the one with
more hydrogen peroxide constantration was brighter. This happens because the higher
the hydrogen peroxide constantration the better it works with fluorescent dye. From
Olivia’s results glow sticks seem to be brighter if it is hotter, or if there is more hydrogen
peroxide and the dimmer the glow sticks are on a piece paper the dimmer the glow
sticks are in real life.
MATERIALS & METHOD
In these experiments, a beaker, green glow sticks, blue glow sticks, yellow glow sticks,
orange glow sticks, purple glow sticks, light sensor probe, ice, different temperatures of
water, thermometer, ruler, mirror, eye dropper, and tissue paper were used.
Tissue paper was wrapped around a cracked purple glow stick 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 times.
The light was measured 3 times different times for each wrap around the glow stick.
There was an average taken and this method was repeated for every wrap of tissue
paper.
Light was measured on the top, between the top and middle, middle, between the
middle and bottom, and the bottom of a cracked purple glow stick. The light was
measured 3 times and an average was taken. This process was repeated for every
section of the glow stick.
A cracked purple glow stick was placed in a beaker at different depths of water at room
temperature. The light was measured from the top of the beaker 3 times. This process
was repeated for 0ml, 50ml, 100ml, 150ml, and 200ml in water.
Green, purple, orange, yellow, and blue sticks were measured for the amount of light
they produced. Each color of glow stick was measured 3 times for light and an average
was taken. This method was used for every color of glow stick.
A purple glow stick was cracked and placed in different temperatures of water in
beakers. The temperatures were measured by a thermometer. The temperature the
glow stick was placed in is 13c, 19.5c, 34c, and 51c.The light was measured from the
top touching the glow stick. The light was measured 3 times and an average was taken.
This method was repeated for every temperature of water.
Blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange glow sticks were creaked and placed 3cm
above a mirror. The light probe was pointed at the mirror and the reflection of the glow
sick was measured. The light was measured 3 times and an average was taken. This
method was used for every color of glow stick.
Tissue paper was wrapped around a cracked purple glow stick. An eye dropper was
used to drop water on the tissue paper wrapped around the glow stick. There were
drops of water of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and after 6 the tissue paper then fell apart. Light
was measured for each 3 times for each drop of water and an average was taken. This
method was used throughout the experiment.
RESULTS/DISCUSSION
16
Amount of light(lux)
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
# of Wraps
Figure 1: The graph shows that the more wraps around a glow stick the lighter
blocked
This graph shows tissue paper block light and the more tissue paper there is the more
light that is blocked. The reason light can’t be seen is because the tissue blocks light
from coming through. So the more tissue paper the more light that is blocked. In wraps
3, 4, and 5 there was almost no difference in light decrease because so much light was
Amount of Light(Lux)
already blocked.
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Top
Between Top
and Bottom
Middle
Between
Middle and
Bottom
Bottom
Part of Glow Sick
Figure 2: The graph shows that the middle section of the glow stick produces the
most light
In this graph it shows that the middle part of the glow stick produces the most light. This
happens because most of the chemicals that make the glow stick light up are in the
middle. Also in the middle of the glow stick is a vial that holds the glow stick. The other
parts of the glow stick were the same because they didn’t have as much chemicals as
the middle. There is also vial to break on the sides of the glow stick.
18
Amount of Ligth(Lux)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
Depth of Water(ml)
Figure 3: The deeper a glow stick is in water the less light there is at the top
The results show that the deeper the glow in water the less light the can be seen. This
happens because the deeper the glow stick in water the father it is away. The water
also blocks of some of the light. This is just like life because at the bottom of the ocean
there is very little light because the water blocks it all. The reason why it wasn’t a
significant difference was because of the glow stick wasn’t deep enough.
40
Amount of Light(Lux)
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Green
Yellow
Orange
Blue
Purple
Color of Glow Stick
Figure 4: Yellow and orange are brighter than all of the other colors
The brighter color of the glow stick the brighter the glow stick. This is true because
yellow and orange were brighter than green, blue, and purple. This happens because
the brighter colors add brightness to the glow stick. The brighter the color on paper the
brighter the stick glows.
60
Amount of Light(lux)
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Temperture of water(c)
Figure 5: The hotter the temperature the brighter the glow sticks
The hotter the water the temperature the brighter the glow stick and the colder the water
the dimmer the glow stick. This happens because when the water is hot is speeds up
the process. This causes the electrons to get more excited and produce more energy.
The reason why the glow stick gets dimmer with colder water temperature is because
the process is slowed causing the electrons to produce less energy.
4.5
Amount of Light(lux)
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
blue
yellow
orange
green
purple
Color of Reflection
Figure 6: Yellow had the brightest reflection
Yellow was the brightest and blue and purple were the lowest. The reason for yellow to
be so bright was because it is a bright color and blue and purple are dark colors. Overall
the reflection is very dim and the light produced is only off by around .5 lux. So yellow,
orange, and green were the same brightness and blue, and purple were the same
brightness.
Amount of Light(lux)
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Drops of Water
Figure 7: The number of drops added to a tissue paper doesn’t really affects the
brightness
The reason this happens with the tissue paper is because of the first drop more drops of
water don’t really do add any water. The first drop blocks some light so light because of
the water. After so many drops of water the tissue paper just falls apart. There is really
not that big of difference in the light between the different drops of water.
CONCLUSION
The experiment results showed the more wraps done around the glow stick the dimmer
the light. This was expected because the more wraps done around a glow stick the
harder it is to see the light because of all the layers of tissue. This can be important
because when there is too much light tissue paper can be used to block some of the
light. Some future experiments that can be done on this is, is the glow stick brighter or
darker if the tissue paper is different temperatures.
CITATIONS
Brando, Marlon. "How Do Glowsticks Glow?" N.P., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Frazier, Olivia. THE STUDY OF WHICH COLOR GLOW STICK IS THE BRIGHTEST.
Cary Academy. Print
"Glow Stick." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Gregersen, Eric, Particle Physics. Britannica Educational Publishing. 2011. Print
"Light." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 17 Jan.
2014. Lowe, Lindsey, Introducing Chemistry Atoms, Molecules, and States of Matter.
Brown Bear, 2010.Print