It can kill cats, too. A piece of the puzzle remains a mystery, though, because good old Kathy McLaughlin was unable to tell us how much methyl salicylate is in the Wint-O-Green Lifesavers. Cancel reply.
Your email address will not be published. I have been purchasing life savers for quite a while. The five flavors indicated are cherry raspberry watermelon orange and pineapple on the label but often they are mostly green and orange. It would be pleasant to get more pineapple and grape. Thank you for your time. Close Menu. Print Edition Send us a tip Biweekly Polls. Sir Francis Bacon first discovered Triboluminescence , also known as mechanoluminescence, in when he scraped a lump of sugar with his knife.
You can easily replicate the colored light produced from grinding, cleaving, biting, or scratching a crystal at home with a hammer and some Life Savers. The flash of light results from a static electric discharge from fracturing the sugar crystal. The friction of the hammer on the sugar crystals excites the nitrogen air molecules. Wait a minute or two to let your eyes adjust to the dark, then watch the candy as you crush it. Did you see anything? Repeat with all other types of mints.
Did you see anything happening as you crushed some types of Lifesavers whereas it did not happen when you crushed other types? To confirm your findings, repeat the activity a few times. Does the same phenomenon happen each time with the same type s of Lifesavers Mint and not with others? You probably detected it for only one of the types of Lifesavers you crushed. Can you find which combination of ingredients is responsible for the phenomenon?
You will need some detective skills to find out! Where can you find the ingredients of each type of candy? In what way s are the ingredients of the mint that shows the phenomenon different? Now, we will investigate what exactly creates the flash. Take another Lifesavers Mint, the type that exhibited the phenomenon, and start exploring.
We know the flash happens when we crush the candy with pliers. Does it also happen when you rub two broken pieces together or when you press just enough on the pliers to put the candy under pressure without breaking it? Extra: If you are wondering if it happens when you chew the candy, try it out. Chew this type of Lifesaver in a dark room in front of a mirror. Open your mouth wide between chews. Can you see a flash? Extra: Investigate other candies containing hard crystalline sugar and the special ingredient.
Actually, all hard sugar-based candies emit some degree of light when you bite them, but most of the time, that light is very faint. This effect is called triboluminescence , which is similar to the electrical charge build-up that produces lightning , only much less grand. Triboluminescence is the emission of light resulting from something being smashed or torn. When you rip a piece of tape off the roll, it will produce a slight glow for the same reason.
Triboluminescence occurs when molecules, in this case crystalline sugars , are crushed, forcing some electrons out of their atomic fields. These free electrons bump into nitrogen molecules in the air. When they collide, the electrons impart energy to the nitrogen molecules, causing them to vibrate.
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. This is why all hard, sugary candies will produce a faint glow when cracked.
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