How to Make Your Own Homemade Glow Sticks « Science Experiments
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How to Make Your Own Homemade Glow Sticks
The first glow sticks were patented by the US Navy in the 70s, but back then, they were called "Chemiluminescent Signal Devices." Today, glow sticks are still used by the military, emergency services, campers, divers and, of course, ravers.
I may be done with the glow-in-the-dark parties from my college days, but I still think glow sticks are pretty legit, and always thought it would be awesome to make some for myself. Talk about a cool application for all those boring chemistry lectures.There are several different ways to make your own homemade glow sticks, some much more complicated than others, so let's get down to it.
Unfortunately, real glow sticks are pretty complicated. To make glow sticks like a chemist, you need several supplies that aren't exactly cheap, or easy to come by. Unless you have unfettered access to a fully stocked science lab, you'll probably need to buy some of them online.How Glow Sticks WorkObviously, glow sticks aren't already glowing in the pack when you buy them. You have to snap the plastic outer tube, which has a small glass tube inside containing a bunch of chemicals. When these chemicals are released, they react with the hydrogen peroxide and dye in the outer tube, making them glow.
There's one chemical in particular that causes this reaction to have such a cool effect—bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate, or .
Hooray for chemical structures!To make TCPO, you dissolve 2,4,6-trichlorophenol in a solution of dry toluene, which reacts with oxalyl chloride when added to a weak base and hydrogen peroxide. This creates a chemiluminescent reaction, which produces the glow.
of NurdRage put together a great
on how to make your own TCPO for all your homemade glow stick endeavors. Check out the video below to see how it's done. Please enable JavaScript to watch this video.
Once you've made some TCPO, you'll need even more chemicals to make your glow sticks. Diethyl Phthalate is used as the solvent, and you'll also need some fluorescent dye, sodium acetate, and of course, hydrogen peroxide.Dr. Lithium also wrote a tutorial on how to combine everything to create the reaction, and you can watch him go through the process step by step in this video. Please enable JavaScript to watch this video.
As stated in the video, different dyes can be added to the standard mixture for different colors, and some may be brighter than others. The length and intensity of the glow depends on the amount of TCPO you use.Be sure to check out Dr. Lithium's
for more details.
In a follow-up video to the guide featured above, Dr. Lithium and a few members of the NurdRage crew decided to create a 100-foot glow stick using polyethylene tubing, which is the same casing that's used for the ones you buy in stores.The ingredients are pretty much the same as the ones in his other guides, you'll just need a lot more of them. Check out the video to see how it's made (or you can skip to the four minute mark if you just want to see what a 100-foot glow stick looks like). Please enable JavaScript to watch this video.
Pretty awesome, right? Who knew science was so cool. You can find the full list of supplies and a detailed tutorial .
C For Chemistry created a
on how to make a reusable glow stick you can recharge. It's technically not a real glow stick since it doesn't bend and you don't have to snap it, but this version is much easier to make because it uses phosphorescence rather than chemiluminescence to produce the glow.All you need is some
(sold as "glow-in-the-dark powder"), a tube of epoxy resin, a plastic syringe, and a piece of heat-shrink tubing or a straw for the outer tube. Please enable JavaScript to watch this video.
All you have to do is mix together the zinc sulfide and epoxy resin, then use the syringe to inject it into the tube. Once the resin hardens, you trim off the excess tubing and you have a permanent reusable glow stick that recharges with exposure to light.
If you don't want to mess with all those dangerous chemicals or go through the trouble of tracking down some of the materials, there are a few workarounds you can use to cheat your way to a fake glow stick...or faux stick, if you will. After all, we can't all be . is a super easy alternative that could be cheaper in the long run if you need a lot of glow sticks. You could mix it with water and fill lengths of polyethylene tubing, or if you'd rather wear your glow sticks, just buy glow in the dark body paint and paint them on yourself.
is another great option and requires a lot less work. You can just tape your wrists or create cool designs on your clothing or sneakers.Not enough glow for ya? Turn your bike into an awesome glowing , or liven up your party with some delicious .
via Shutterstock, other images via , , , ,
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Trending Across WonderHowToIncredible photos reveal the elaborate hairdos of the Himba tribe created using goat hair and MUD
That's an unusual look! Namibia's Himba tribeswomen sport incredible hairdos created using goat hair, butter and MUD (but the married men have to cover up in turbans)Himba men sport a plait while single but cover up in a turban that they never take off once they are marriedBy contrast, women wear ornate styles that take hours to create and are smothered in a mix of butter and ochreHimba tribe live in northwestern Namibia and have stuck to their traditions, including their complex hairdo system
By RUTH STYLES
12:19 GMT, 18 April 2014
15:48 GMT, 18 April 2014
Their elaborately braided hair, skin and clothes covered in a mixture of ground red rock and butter, the women of Namibia's Himba tribe are a striking sight.But while the women sport hairstyles of varying degrees of complexity, the men cover their heads with turbans from the moment they marry a instead using an arrow-like implement to scratch the hair beneath the turban.'Marriage is important in Himba culture,' explains photographer Eric Lafforgue,
'but extramarital relations are encouraged. Polygamy is the rule for both men
and women who can have other partners in addition to their
Spectacular: A Himba woman shakes her incredible dreadlocks, which are created using a mixture of ground ochre, butter and either goat hair or Indian hair extensions
Young: This girl is going through puberty, a fact made plain by her hairstyle which has been designed to cover her face and help her avoid male attention
Ready to marry: This girl's braids are tied back, indicating that she's ready to be married. Married women add a headdress made from animal skins to their style
Married women: After a year of marriage or following the birth of their first child, Himba women add an elaborate animal skin headdress to their hairstyle
Family: A young girl typically has two plaits of braided hair called ozondato, the form being determined by her oruzo or the paternal clan she belongs to
Elaborate: A little girl shows off her double braids and her impressive jewellery collection, which includes a heavy torque made from iron electric fence wire
Siblings: Girls who haven't reached puberty always wear two plaits unless they are one of a set of twins (right) in which case, they sport a single lock
The Himba's egalitarianism also extends to who gets to be in charge of what, with decisions split between men and women. 'The Himba
have a system of dual descent where every person is linked to two
distinct groups of relatives: one through the line of the mother and the
other through the father,' explains Lafforgue. 'Overall authority is in
the hands of the men but economic issues are decided by the women.'
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The Himba are a tribe of pastoralists who live in Kaokoland, a vast stretch of land in northwestern Namibia and bordered by Angola to the north and the Skeleton Coast and Atlantic Ocean to the west. Like other tribes living in the area, people depend on their cows to live and as a result, a Himba man without a herd of bovine companions isn't considered worthy of respect.'Despite the fact they live in
little villages, the Himba are rich people,' adds Lafforgue. 'The herds can be anything up to 200 cows, although they will never says how many cows they have - they keep it secret to avoid thieves.'But while the Himba lifestyle catches the eye, it's the elaborate hairstyles that really set them apart. Styles reference the status of the wearer, with single men wearing a plait called an ondatu on the back of their head.Himba women, by contrast, wear incredibly elaborate styles that change depending on whether or not they're married and on how old they are. 'Himba women use a lot of different
things, including hair and straw, to create their dreadlocks,' explains
Lafforgue. 'Some Himba even buy Indian hair extensions in town!'A young girl typically has two plaits of braided hair called ozondato, the
form of which is decided by her oruzo - the clan she is descended from on her father's side.'
Hard work: The women have the job of finding grazing for the cows which can take hours during the summer. Right, a mother and daughter pose for a photo
At home: Himba homes are made from a mixture of earth and cattle dung and contain little beyond a bed and collection of useful implements such as kitchen tools
Ready to marry: A Himba woman wearing her bridal finery and right, with her friends and another bride ahead of the wedding
Intricate: A Himba woman shows off her long dreadlocks, created using a mixture of ground ochre, butter and goat hair. Indian hair extensions are also used
Proud: Himba women are fiercely proud of their traditional hairstyles and clothes and are more keen than the men of the tribe to cling on to their ancient customs
Beautiful: A woman smiles up at the camera as she shows off her beaded headband while a little girl beams as she displays her huge, heavy torque necklace
Hard work: A pair of women remove ticks from a goat - a job that can take hours when done by hand as the Himbas do it. Sometimes, the children help out
In charge: Women do most of the jobs in and around the home, including milking the goats and storing their milk in jerrycans - some are made from old bottles
Simple life: The Himba live in homes made from cattle dung and mud. Clothes are kept clean by being smoked over a fragrant brazier full of incense (bottom right)
A few wear a single plait which means they are one half of a pair of twins, while the smallest children tend to have shaved heads, although some have special haircuts that indicate they belong to a clan where taking care of goats with small ears is taboo - a tradition that extends to eating their meat. 'If you see a teenage girl with strands hanging over her face, it means she has hit puberty and therefore has to hide her face from the men. When a woman has been married for a year or has had a child, she wears the erembe headdress, which is made from animal skin, on top of her head.'Keeping the elaborate dreadlocks in perfect shape is a challenge in itself, with women spending several hours a day tending to their hair and complexion.'Women take several hours each morning for beauty care and sleep on wooden pillows so they don't ruin their hair in the night,' explains Lafforgue. 'The first task is to take care of their dreadlocks. 'Then they cover themselves completely
with a mixture made from ground ochre and fat, called otjize. 'It acts as a
sunscreen and insect repellent. If they do not have enough butter,
they use vaseline. He adds:The red colour that it gives to the skin is
considered a sign of beauty and they smear the mixture all over themselves - not only on their skin and hair but also their
clothes and jewellery.'Lafforgue is also keen to debunk the myth that Himba people don't wash. 'This is wrong,' he insists. 'If they have access
to water, they’ll take a bath, but as they live in arid places, it is a
luxury. 'Himbas
have water use smoke to purify themselves and their clothes, which they
"wash" by putting them into a basket with some incense made from the
wood of the commiphora multijuga tree.'
Family: The Himba are a pastoralist group and regularly flit across the Nambian border to Angola, where other members of the tribe live, without visas
Good look: This man's single plait indicates that he is unmarried. Once he is, he will cover his hair for the rest of his life apart from when he attends funerals
man: When Himba men marry, they start wearing turbans which they never
take off unless someone in the village dies. After a death, their heads
are shaved
Haircare: Because the turbans are never removed, things can get a little itchy underneath, so men carry pointed arrow like instruments to scratch it with
Bereft: This man is a widower and so, has his hair uncovered. The habit of scratching his hair with his iron hair tool appears a tough habit to break as this photo suggests
Boy's own: Little boys adopt the same hairstyle as single men even if, as in the case of the tiny boy on the right, both they and their hair have some growing to do
Colourful: This man is yet to marry, as made clear by his uncovered hair. Despite his unwed status, he has decided to brighten things up with colourful raffia
Music: Himbas have a lot of traditional music and dances and love the sound of the ohuta, a musical bow, which this man was playing while tending his goats in the bush
FANCY HANGING OUT WITH THE HIMBA? HERE'S HOW YOU CAN:Eric travelled with guides from Exotic Travel and Safaris, which offers a 12-day tour that includes a visit to meet the Himba people.Packages include accommodation, meals and transfers, with prices starting at ?1,874 per person. For more information, see South African Airways offers return flights to Windhoek from London Heathrow via Johannesburg from ?1,010. See
for more. For further information on Namibia, please .naFor more of Eric's work both in Namibia and elsewhere, see .
Although some Himba wear clothes, among them the clans evangelised by the Germans in the 18th century who wear ornate Victorian ensembles called Hererotracht, for the majority, the focus is on hair and jewelleryWomen wear a large white shell necklace called the ohumba, which is passed from mother to daughter. Equally popular, particularly among married women, are heavy necklaces made from copper or iron wire - much of which is taken from electric fencing.'Some wear keys and
bullets as decoration as most of their houses don't have locks,' adds Lafforgue. 'The necklaces of the older women can weigh several
kilos but new ones are made with PVC tubes or from things given to them by tourists. That's why you sometimes meet HImba women wearing bracelets that have an Arsenal logo!'Women also use omangetti seeds as decoration because they enjoy the noise they
make when they walk. The adult Himba women all have beaded anklets called omohanga, where they hide their money.
The anklets are also handy as a protection against venomous animal bites.'Sadly, the Himba's ancient way of life is becoming increasingly threatened with Western mores on dress and lifestyle becoming increasingly influential among younger people.'Everywhere tradition is giving way under the
pressure of modern practices and new ideas,' explains Lafforgue. 'Himba women seem
to want to keep to the old ways and they resist change more than men do.'Even so, as Lafforgue points out, football shirts are now a common sight - even if the electricity to watch the matches hasn't. 'I met a Himba man in a Brazil shirt,' he adds. 'But he didn't know anything about the football team or the World Cup as TV and electricity still haven't arrived in his village.' For now, at least, it seems the colourful lifestyles of Namibia's Himba look set to continue.
Helping out: A witchdoctor such as this one is called when bad things happen in a village. The man purifies the inhabitants using magic sentences
For the children, doing the chores means helping out with things like
removing ticks from the village goats - a task that can take hours done
Helping out: This little girl is giving her mother a helping hand by holding a goat still while she milks it. Goat milk is a staple food for the people of the Himba tribe
Hair today: The Himba women's elaborate hairstyles take hours to create and are lengthened by including bits of woven hay, goat hair and even hair extensions
Tucking in: An adorable toddler makes a meal of his lunch of boiled maize meal and goat milk in one of the Himba villages visited by Eric Lafforgue
Changing world: This Himba man has chosen to combine his traditional hairstyle with modern clothing, including cotton shorts and shoes made from tyres
All change: Western lifestyles are becoming more popular but unfortunately for this football fan (left), electricity is yet to arrive in his village so he can't watch the game
All change: A Himba man from the village of Oncocua has embraced modern life, complete with a natty pair of sunglasses and a motorbike. His jewellery remains
Threat: The stunning Epupa Falls on the Cunene River. The Namibian government wants to build a huge dam here and is currently negotiating with the Himba people
Nightfall: Night falls over Himba lands in northwestern Nambia but for this tribesman, the night he is to spend watching his cows could prove a long one
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Copy link to paste in your messageNow they're magic mushrooms! Amazing images reveal alien-like toadstools and glow-in-the-dark fungi lighting up forests
Now they're magic mushrooms! Amazing images reveal alien-like toadstools and glow-in-the-dark fungi lighting up forests
Photographer Stephen Axford from Melbourne, has spent 12 years capturing the mushrooms of New South WalesHe photographs large species measuring 16 inches tall to tiny fungi invisible to the naked eye using a macro lensSpecimens photographed include bioluminescent mushrooms, slimy and delicate fungi as well as some that look like aliens and coralBy
11:47 GMT, 16 May 2014
12:29 GMT, 16 May 2014
With luminous colours and alien-like features, these mesmerising mushrooms look like they belong on another planet.But from glow-in-the-dark caps to delicate pastel gills and even slimy stalks, they all grow on Earth in an array of diverse and mysterious forms.Australian photographer Stephen Axford, 62, has spent 12 years snapping the fungi.
An eerie sight: With luminous colours and alien-like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet. There are thought to be 65 species of luminescent mushrooms such as the Mycena chlorophos pictured - which use a reaction that emits light when water and oxygen are present so they glow 24 hours a day, but are visible at night
‘This project came together all by itself,’ said the resident of Melbourne, who started photographing mushrooms across Australia in 2002.
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‘As I collected more and more photos it became obvious that I should do something with them, as it would be such a pity to just collect them and then let them die with me without any one seeing them.‘I am very fortunate in that I live in a place that has plenty of fungi, and when I started photographing fungi, I knew nothing about it.
Hidden treasure: Australian photographer Stephen Axford, 62, has spent 12 years snapping the fungi, some of which glows in the dark. These specimens appear to be holding silver pearls and looks slightly like an oyster
Deserves a fanfare: This Panus fasciatus is known as the 'hairy trumpet' and looks as it if should be growing on another planet. However the fungus can be found in Australian woods and forests and often grows from rotting logs. These specimens appear to be providng a temporary home for a small stripy insect
‘Now I am learning not only their names and how they survive, but also a little of how they fit into the world and the importance of the role that they play.‘Many plants and animals could not survive as they rely on fungi to provide them nutrition’From monstrous specimens measuring 16 inches (40cm) in height to tiny fungi just one millimetre in size, Mr Axford photographs them all.
Lighting up the woods: Bioluminescent mushrooms emit light 24 hours per day but are best observed at night. There are about 85,000 species in the fungi kingdom and around just 65 of them are thought to be luminescent. Here, Mycena chlorophos illuminate pitch-black woodland
Gloriously glossy: From monstrous specimens measuring 40cm in height to tiny fungi just one millimetre in size, Mr Axford photographs them all. This specimen has a large, irregular cap that appears to be glossy
When they are too small to see with the naked eye, he uses a macro lens to reveal the fungi’s beauty.A fungus is any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes micro-organisms such as yeasts and moulds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.Mr Axford said: ‘I live in an area of New South Wales that used to be an old volcano, so it has rich volcanic soil and lots of rain mainly in the summer.
Alien Invasion? When the fungi are too small to see with the naked eye, he uses a macro lens to reveal their beauty. This Mycena Interrupta looks a little like an alien. The species does not glow-in-the-dark but matures to have a brilliant blue cyan cap
Diverse: A fungus is any member of a large group
of eukaryotic organisms that includes micro-organisms such as yeasts and
moulds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. They come in many shapes and sizes. Hygrocybe viscidocruenta is pictured left and Mycena Interrupta right with its pretty cyan caps
Could have starred in Ghostbusters: Hygrocybe graminicolor (pictured) is charmingly known as the 'slimp green waxcap' as its luminous green body is coated in a thick, glutinous substance. It only grows in wet rainforests to the south of Australia
‘This is perfect for sub-tropical fungi which thrive in summer and so about half of my photos are taken at my home and the rest mostly from close by. ‘My pictures show the beauty in the world, but they also stimulate me to find out more about how the world fits together.
Under the sea? This Panus fasciatus looks as if it should live beneath the waves in a tropical reef but it can be found in the forests of Australia. Its delicate gills
curl upwards and the caps have delicate hairy details
Delicate: Mr Axford lives in an area of New South Wales that used to be a volcano, so it has rich volcanic soil and lots of rain in the summer. Such conditions are necessary to support incredible structures such as this mushroom, which has impossibly delicate gills
Like little flowers: Marasmius Haematocephalu look like flowers and play an essentialrole in forest ecosystems by helping to break down the litter layer of the forest floor. They are small and are often overlooked by collectors
‘I also try to make the colours true - though the lighting will enhance that at times. Most people love my fungi photos which encourages me to keep taking them. ‘I try to get as many people as possible to see them, in the hope that they will stimulate an interest in fungi, and I think this is working.’
It's best side: The photographer waits for the perfect lighting conditions to showcase the fungi in all their glory. Anthracophyllum archeri is pictured, which is also known as the orange fan. Masses of the fungus can cover dead twigs in the forest
It can leave its hat on: Mycena viscidocruenta is also called the ruby bonnet. It has a blood-red cap with a darker red dimple at its centre as well as pink gills and a deep red stem. It is most commonly found in the south east of Australia
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