Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am trying to conduct an experiment in which I am trying to measure the luminescence of a glow stick. I am also going to be building my own glow stick. Is there any specific technique in doing this?

Hello its_marissa,

Welcome to the forum. Making your own glow stick involves mixing the chemical ingredients in the proper proportions to get the chemical reaction that produces the “glow”. You must be careful anytime you are working with chemicals. That means that you must know the precautions needed for the chemicals involved. I suggest that you ask your teacher for help with the chemicals and precautions for making your own glow stick.

It may not be practical to build a glow stick like the ones you can buy. But you may be able to simulate what happens when you activate a glow stick as follows.

According to the project background information, the ingredients include hydrogen peroxide, a phenyl oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye. You could put a hydrogen peroxide solution in one test tube, and the phenyl oxalate/dye mixture in another test tube. Pour the contents of these test tubes into a third test tube, put a stopper in the top and shake it up to start the reaction and make the solution “glow”.

Good luck with your project and please ask if you have more questions.

A. Norman