“Lightning In Your Mouth.” Https://Science Of Cooking, n.d. “Sweet Spark May Hold Clue to How Things Break.” The New York Times. It is lightning in your mouth.Ĭhang, Kenneth. If you want to try out this phenomenon yourself go right ahead! All you need is a dark room, a mirror, a Winter-Green Life Saver, and maybe a buddy for company! All you do is throw the sucker into your mouth and hold the mirror up to your face and chew! Watch the magic happen as your mouth begins to bubble and sparkle with various colors(Lightning 1). Since the Life Savers have oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) to flavor them, it is easy to witness the The Wint-O-Green Saver Effect(Chang 1). These “electrons jump to nitrogen or oxygen molecules in the air, which shed the excess energy by emitting light”(Chang 1). In scientific terms, in sugars or quartz crystals, electrons build up which causes fracturing and chemical bonds to break(Chang 1). Triboluminescence is the back-bone behind this discovery. He expressed his findings in the “Novum Organum” in 1620, concluding that “It is also most certain that all sugar, whether refined or raw, provided only it be somewhat hard, sparkles when broken or scraped with a knife in the dark.” This term was founded by an English Philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon, in the early 1600’s(Chang 1). The technical term for the interaction between ones mouth and the Life Saver is called triboluminescence, “light produced by rubbing”(Chang 1). He would use this study to find specified colors of light that were given off by various atoms and molecules(Chang 1). Suslick, claimed that the sparks from the Life Savers gave him the bold opportunity to perform spectroscopy, the study of interaction between matter and radiated energy(Spectroscopy 1). Professor of Chemistry at Illinois, Kenneth S. In other words, the effect of biting down on a Life Saver is so strong that you can see the sparks flying out of your mouth. According to scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “…those faint sparks were energetic enough to power chemical reactions along the fracturing surfaces”(Chang 1). Besides being a totally awesome discovery, this provides scientists with a better understanding on how things break on an atomic level(Chang 1). You are probably extremely confused, but the fact is that Life Saver candies may shoot sparks out of your mouth in the pitch black. What was that?! Your friend then smiles at you, “that my friend was The Wint-O-Green Saver Effect.” You stick the circular-like object into your mouth and then Boom! Crackle! Pow! Sparks start to fly and your mouth seems to be glowing. Your friend pulls out a circular-like object out of their pocket and they whisper to you “Let’s do it.” Nervously, you accept your partners offer. This is why all hard, sugary candies will produce a faint glow when cracked.Imagine a dark room. In this excited state, and in order to get rid of the excess energy, these nitrogen molecules emit light - mostly ultraviolet (nonvisible) light, but they do emit a small amount of visible light as well. When they collide, the electrons impart energy to the nitrogen molecules, causing them to vibrate. These free electrons bump into nitrogen molecules in the air. Triboluminescence occurs when molecules, in this case crystalline sugars, are crushed, forcing some electrons out of their atomic fields. When you rip a piece of tape off the roll, it will produce a slight glow for the same reason. Triboluminescence is the emission of light resulting from something being smashed or torn. This effect is called triboluminescence, which is similar to the electrical charge buildup that produces lightning, only much less grand. But why? Darryl Brooks/ShutterstockĪctually, all hard sugar-based candies emit some degree of light when you bite them, but most of the time, that light is very faint. Wintergreen candies are known to spark in the dark.
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