Glow Stick Investigation

Glow stick dipped in hot water

Glow stick dipped in hot water

Glow stick dipped in hot water, then again in cold water at the bottom. You can see the difference!

We continued our discussion of the behavior of atoms this week with a glow stick investigation. We activated our glow sticks by popping them, making the liquids inside interact to cause the glow. Then we dipped the glow stick in hot water, and it immediately got much brighter. We discussed the reason for this was because those atoms are getting more and more energized by the thermal energy, so the chemical reaction causing the glow was happening faster. When we dipped the glow stick in the cold water, the color immediately dulled due to the loss of energy. The atoms began to slow down. Fun activity!