The Wonders of Light Sticks

Now my fellow scientist of this world. As I speak, there are tons of light shining in my room. But they will soon be turned off and replaced with some other artificial light. To be exact, it is chemical light. To be 'exactess', it is the light stick. The light stick is one of the things in the world that really amazes me. Science revolves around it pretty much, but it is a sad thing that not a lot of people notice them much. It is a common sight at night concerts, at the military, at a diving club. But is there anyone who ever thinks of the chemistry behind it? Well, I shall uncover the 'amazingness' of the light stick to you.


So, how do light sticks work? That is a lot of chemistry. That's right, light sticks work by chemical reaction. Before telling you how it works, I guess it will be necessary for me to tell you the chemicals involved first. First up, we have hydrogen peroxide, followed by phenyle oxalate. Last but not least, a fluorescent dye to give the light its colour. To say it the simple way, the first two chemicals will first mix together to release a whole ton of energy. This energy excites the electrons of the fluorescent dye so much that these electrons go high with energy level and releases light.

For real chemistry crazy fans, I shall give you the exact details: The hydrogen peroxide oxidises the phenyl oxalate ester, to form phenol and an unstable peroxyacid ester. The unstable peroxyacid ester decomposes, resulting in phenol and a cyclic peroxy compound. The cyclic peroxy compound decomposes to carbon dioxide. This decomposition reaction releases the energy that excites the dye which cause them to release light photons.

Okay, that may sound as scientific as you thought, but at least for me, I find it quite enough for my standard of chemistry. To be exact, my head is spinning when I read this. Anyway, I just have this thought, if the world has enough resources to create such chemicals in great abundance, wouldn't it be great if the world can be lighted by light sticks? Currently, light sticks are only used for commercial use during a concert or for use by those goofy adventurers and soldiers. Don't you think it might be better with this light sticks illuminating the whole world? They look more stylish than the ordinary fluorescent light we have in the house (or LED light for those incredibly rich people).

Enough talk here, since I am finding that these light sticks are reminding me of Star Wars. Well, they do look like light sabers. With that, I commence this post to a close, with a video to greet you of course. A better, and much more detailed explanation on light sticks. It even teaches you how to make one.
TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK

Reflection on Scientific Doings: Term 3

Hiya scientist of the Earth. Today, I called you guys over for a little chat. Not really a little chat, but more of a presentation of my experience this term. So, what have I been doing with Science this term?

Well, in this entire term, the topics were mainly physics, or lenses, to be exact. Well, this topic is extremely similar to the topic of light. The thing is, it is all about drawing the light ray and where they will go and stuff like that. Is is mostly about following the rules. That is, there are rules that we must draw a parallel line to the ground towards the lens from the object before bending it down when it reaches the middle of the lens, and then we have to draw a line straight through the center of the lens and out the other side to meet with the first line we have drawn to find out the image's position. Sounds complicated? But that is what Science is about! All theories and stuff. Wonder if there is a better method than just simply memorising the facts and understanding them blindly.

The next topic we had was biology, or sexual reproduction. Aha, I can tell that you are smirking. But then, we are still learning it. Hmm......it appears that we have also learn this in Primary five, but that was a very brief introduction. This time, we are learning it in depth. Yep, we get to know the exact function of the each and different parts of the sexual reproductive system. But nonetheless, it is still complicated in some way. The thing is, there are so many parts and functions to remember, and wow, there is even a schedule for each and every even like the menstruation cycle. Hmm......it may take some time to make full sense of them.

Last but not least, wow, my test went superbly. Guess what? I got 36 out of 40. Man, that is rather unexpected as I was freaking out during the test itself. But I have to admit this mark is no big deal as everybody did just as good.

So far so good. Term 4 is coming soon in a short time and we shall then face the real challenge of our lives. The final year exam shall rip us out. So, got to go off and study now. Or as the students always say, MUG! So long and good luck on your mugging journey!