By Katherine Wood

A glow stick is a sealed, plastic tube that contains two types of chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and diphenyl oxalate, which are separated in two different chambers within the tube. When the tube is bent, the walls of the inner chambers break causing the two chemicals to mix and to create light through a process called “chemiluminescence.” “Chemiluminesence” is the emission of light as the result of a chemical reaction.

If a glow stick is put in water, would the temperature of the water affect the reaction of the chemicals inside the stick?

I think that the glow stick will glow brighter in hot water than it will in cold water.

My hypothesis was correct! The glow stick that was put into hot water glowed brighter than the stick that was put into cold water.

I believe the glow stick burns brighter in hot water because the heat causes the chemical reaction to speed up and become more intense. I believe the glow stick burns less brightly in cold water because the cold water causes the chemical reaction in the glow stick to slow down.