Abraham Torres, Kevin Wakefield, and Allison Woods CHM110 January 21, 2013 CHERYL BURLEIGH Chemical Reactions: Glow Sticks

1.Modern glow stick was invented by Herbert Richter and Ruth Tedrick. A patent was filed in March of 1973 and awarded in June of Glow sticks were developed by the United States Navy. Development of the Glow Stick

1.Military Use 2.Entertainment 3.Camping 4.Recreational Diving 5.Disaster and Emergency Situations Practical Applications of Glow Sticks

What is a Glow Stick? 1.Plastic casing containing isolated chemicals. 2.Inner glass vial contains hydrogen peroxide. 3.Phenyl oxalate and fluorescent dye solution. 4.Hydrogen peroxide solution. 5.Isolated chemicals mix triggering an exothermic reaction that generates light. This is known as Chemoluminescence.

1.Glow sticks are activated when the isolated chemicals hydrogen peroxide and diphenyl oxalate react, releasing phenol and cyclic peroxide. 2.Peroxides are an ideal reactant because the bonds between the oxygen atoms are easily broken releasing energy. 3.The cyclic peroxide then interacts with a fluorescent dye molecule releasing 2 molecules of carbon dioxide and exciting the electrons of the dye, it is the fluorescent dye that responsible for the color the glow stick. When the electrons relax, a photon of light energy is released. Chemical Reaction Behind the Light

Movement Between Electron Shells

Fluorophores: The Colors Behind the Light Part 1

Example 1Example 2 Fluorophores: The Colors Behind the Light Part 2

1.Glow sticks were developed by the United States Navy and was awarded a patent in The glow stick has many practical applications. 3.A glow stick is a single use short term light source that is contained within a plastic tube. This tube contains isolated chemicals and when mixed together, the chemical reaction that follows produces light energy. This is known as Chemoluminescence. 4.Chemoluminescence is an exothermic chemical reaction. 5.Fluorophores determine the color of the light emitted. Summary

About Chemistry (n.d). Glow Stick Chemical Reaction retreived 1/17/2013 from Reactions/Glowstick-Chemical-Reaction.htm Helmenstine, A. M. (n.d.). Light Stick Colors. Retrieved from Light made through chemical reactions: Chemoluminescence. (n.d.). Retrieved from United States Patent Office. (n.d.). United States Patent 3,819,925. Retrieved from Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2 Fsearch- bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PALL&s1= PN.&OS=P N/ &RS=PN/ http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph- Welsh, E. (2011). What is Chemoluminescence? Retrieved from scence.pdf References