• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
ask Dr Zag

ask Dr Zag

Questions & Facts

  • Local questions
  • Topics
  • Ask
  • Reset location
  • Set location

What's inside a glow stick?

Last updated January 1, 2020 by ZagBot Comment

Glow sticks contain hydrogen peroxide solution and a separate sealed glass tube of diphenyl oxalate ester solution mixed with a fluorescent dye. Bending the glowstick breaks the inner glass tube, mixing the two solutions, and starts a chemical reaction.

The reaction makes 1,2-dioxetanedione, a cyclic dimer of carbon dioxide, which rapidly decomposes to carbon dioxide, releasing energy that excites electrons in the dye molecules. As those electrons fall back to a stable state, the dye molecules release energy as photons of light.

This is called chemiluminescence and the dye molecule used governs the light wavelength emitted, and hence the glow stick color.

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Select a rating

Primary Sidebar

Topic Categories

  • Abbotsford
  • Ahmedabad
  • Akron
  • Albany
  • Alcobendas
  • Amersham
  • Amsterdam
  • Anaheim
  • Andover
  • Ann Arbor
  • Annapolis
  • Ardmore
  • Arlington
  • Aspen
  • Atlanta
  • Auburn
  • Auckland
  • Augusta
  • Austin
  • Avon
  • Bala
  • Baltimore
  • Banff
  • Bangor
  • Barcelona
  • Beacon
  • Beaumaris
  • Beaverton
  • Bellingham
  • Berkeley
  • Big Sur
  • Binghamton
  • Blanchardstown
  • Bodø
  • Boise
  • Boston
  • Boulder
  • Boulder City
  • Bratislava
  • Brentwood Bay
  • Bridgeport
  • Brighton
  • Buenos Aires
  • Buffalo
  • Buñol
  • Caernarfon
  • Calabasas
  • Calgary
  • Cambridge
  • Camrose
  • Canmore
  • Cañon City
  • Carson
  • Carson City
  • Cascade
  • Chantilly
  • Charlotte
  • Chester
  • Cheyenne
  • Chicago
  • Chico
  • Cincinnati
  • Clear Lake
  • Clemson
  • Coeur d'Alene
  • Coffin Bay
  • Colma
  • Cook County
  • Corby
  • Cortlandt
  • Cranberry Township
  • Crystal River
  • Custer
  • Dallas
  • Daly City
  • Daytona Beach
  • Deeside
  • Deming
  • Denton
  • Denver
  • Des Moines
  • Detroit
  • Dibrugarh
  • Dirk Hartog Island
  • Dobbs Ferry
  • Doune
  • Downpatrick
  • Dubai
  • Dudley
  • Durham
  • East Rutherford
  • Edmonton
  • Eindhoven
  • Ellesmere Port
  • Elmhurst
  • Elmont
  • Emeryville
  • Eugene
  • Evanston
  • Fairfield
  • Falmouth
  • Fernie
  • Fiumicino
  • Florence
  • Forney
  • Fort Collins
  • Foster City
  • Fox Island
  • Fremont
  • Frisco
  • Furry Creek
  • Gablenz
  • Gateshead
  • Gatlinburg
  • Ghent
  • Glendale
  • Gold Coast
  • Gqeberha
  • Grand Prairie
  • Granollers
  • Halifax
  • Hamilton
  • Hanksville
  • Harrington Park
  • Hawthorne
  • Helsinki
  • Hillsborough
  • Hoboken
  • Holyhead
  • Hounslow
  • Houston
  • Humboldt
  • Hunter
  • Huntington Beach
  • Indianapolis
  • Inglewood
  • Interior
  • Ithaca
  • Jasper
  • Jerez de la Frontera
  • Jersey City
  • Kalamazoo
  • Kamloops
  • Kennebunk
  • Key West
  • Keystone
  • Kinloch
  • Lake Havasu City
  • Lake Louise
  • Lanark
  • Las Vegas
  • Leavenworth
  • Leeds
  • Lexington
  • Little Current
  • Littleton
  • Liverpool
  • Llandudno
  • Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
  • Lockerbie
  • Logan Lake
  • Lompoc
  • London
  • Lone Pine
  • Lonoke
  • Los Altos
  • Los Angeles
  • Los Olivos
  • Macclesfield
  • Mackinac Island
  • Mackinaw City
  • Maidstone
  • Mainz
  • Manchester
  • Manhattan Beach
  • Marshall
  • Maryland Heights
  • Marysville
  • Matsue
  • Melbourne
  • Memphis
  • Menai Bridge
  • Mendocino
  • Menlo Park
  • Miami
  • Miami Gardens
  • Mill Valley
  • Millbrae
  • Milwaukee
  • Minneapolis
  • Mississauga
  • Mobridge
  • Monaco
  • Moneta
  • Montauk
  • Monterey
  • Montgomery
  • Montreal
  • Morrisville
  • Morro Bay
  • Mountain View
  • Muir Beach
  • Munich
  • Myrtle Beach
  • Nantucket
  • New London
  • New Orleans
  • New Rochelle
  • New Westminster
  • New York
  • Newark
  • Nice
  • Nipigon
  • Nitra
  • Norfolk
  • North Salem
  • North Vancouver
  • Nutley
  • Oakham
  • Oakland
  • Ocean City
  • Old Westbury
  • Olympia
  • Opelika
  • Orlando
  • Oroville
  • Ottawa
  • Palmdale
  • Palo Alto
  • Paris
  • Paxton
  • Peekskill
  • Pensacola
  • Perth
  • Petaluma
  • Philadelphia
  • Pike Road
  • Piru
  • Pittsburgh
  • Pollença
  • Port Angeles
  • Port de Pollença
  • Port Renfrew
  • Portland
  • Pozuelo de Alarcón
  • Pretoria
  • Providence
  • Raleigh
  • Rapid City
  • Red Deer
  • Renton
  • Revelstoke
  • Rhyl
  • Richmond
  • Rockland
  • Rome
  • Ronkonkoma
  • Roslyn
  • Sacramento
  • Saint George
  • Saint Louis
  • Saint Paul
  • San Bruno
  • San Carlos
  • San Clemente
  • San Diego
  • San Francisco
  • San Jose
  • San Luis Obispo
  • San Mateo
  • San Quentin
  • Sanford
  • Sanibel
  • Santa Clara
  • Santa Clarita
  • Santiago de Chile
  • Saugerties
  • Sausalito
  • Seattle
  • Secaucus
  • Seville
  • Shandon
  • Sherwood
  • Snoqualmie
  • South San Francisco
  • Southampton
  • Southlake
  • Sparks
  • Spokane
  • Stanford
  • Sterling
  • Stinson Beach
  • Stockholm
  • Stockport
  • Stowe
  • Surrey
  • Swords
  • Sydney
  • Syracuse
  • Tacloban
  • Tacoma
  • Tallahassee
  • Talybont
  • Tampa
  • Täsch
  • Teruel
  • Thousand Oaks
  • Tiburon
  • Topsail Beach
  • Toronto
  • Troy
  • Truckee
  • Tucson
  • Turin
  • Ty Croes
  • University Place
  • Vacaville
  • Vail
  • Valladolid
  • Vance
  • Vancouver
  • Venice
  • Victoria
  • View Royal
  • Waco
  • Walnut Creek
  • Warrington
  • Washington, DC
  • Waukegan
  • Wembley
  • Wertheim
  • Westminster
  • Whistler
  • White Plains
  • Winnetka
  • Winnipeg
  • Winterset
  • Woodside
  • Yale
  • Yonkers
  • Youngstown
  • Yountville

Footer

About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • FAQ
FAQ
  • Login
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy policy
  • Community guidelines

Copyright © 2023 Petryal

  • Terms and Conditions
Change Location
Find awesome listings near you!