Glow in the Dark Mountain Dew
Monday March 3, 2008
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Glow in the Dark Mountain Dew Materials
- 20-oz bottle of Mountain Dew™ (but any 20-oz bottle will work)
- glowstick or lightstick
- scissors or wirecutters
- dishwashing liquid (I used Dawn™)
- hydrogen peroxide
- baking soda
- Pour out or drink all but a small volume of the soft drink (~1/4 inch). If your bottle is empty, add a little water.
- Add a squirt of dishwashing liquid.
- Use scissors or wirecutters to cut the glowstick. (I do not recommend using a steak knife, but if it's all you can find, it will work.)
- Empty the contents of the glowstick into the bottle. I used a pair of tiny inch-long sticks intended for use as earrings, so I just cut them in half and tossed them in the bottle. If the liquid won't flow you can snip the glowstick into pieces and just add the pieces to the bottle.
- Add 1-3 capfuls of hydrogen peroxide.
- Add a pinch of baking soda and immediately seal the bottle.
- Turn out the lights (if you haven't already) and vigorously shake the bottle.
- You probably guessed this, but I'll say it anyway... don't drink the contents of the bottle. Keep it out of reach of children or anyone else who might be tempted to drink the liquid.
- There's nothing special about Mountain Dew™. In fact, you don't even need soda. The glowing red bottle was made using a bit of water (I used too much... you shouldn't be able to see the liquid level), a squirt of Dawn™, a broken red glowstick, a couple of capfuls of hydrogen peroxide, and a pinch of baking soda.
- You don't absolutely need the peroxide or baking soda either. The project works if you add a little detergent and the contents of a broken glowstick to any near-empty 20-oz bottle.
- However, if you add the peroxide and baking soda, you get an immediate bright glow. Enjoy the glow while you can because the chemiluminescence reaction proceeds rapidly. If you use peroxide you will notice the light starting to fade within about half a minute.
How Lightsticks Work | Glowstick Colors
Photo: You can't drink glowing Mountain Dew, but that doesn't make it any less cool. (Anne Helmenstine)
Comments
just a question;
after you make this happen is it reusable like a glow stick?
(if you recharge it with light, will it work again?)
No, it’s not reusable. It doesn’t last as long as a normal lightstick, either, though it glows more brightly for a short amount of time.
What are you saying “Making Glow” It sounds like you’re using a glow stick already?
Thats because you are using a glowstick. I tried this out earlier after receiving the Hoax Video in my email. You’re using the chemicals from the glowstick to produce the glow, the liquid is just to dilute and spread it around the bottle (as most party glow sticks dont hold enough liquid in them anyways) and the baking soda and peroxide, if you remember those fun bottle rockets you used to make as a kid, creates a fizz effect to make the glowing BRIGHTER, for however small of a period of time. Mine lasted somewhere among 30 seconds to a minute. What Im wondering is if you increase the volume of liquid, and also increase the volume of the other ingredients, how well will it work? As I’m not so clever to do the math on my own, anyone who comes up with these results please drop me a line. Also, if you know any other cool things to do with glow sticks, drop me a line for that as well, preferably titles like “Results on Increased Glowstick Volume” and “Fun things to do witha Glowstick” You can reach me at shade_hellraiser@hotmail.com