It’s no secret that opposites attract. People with opposite personalities end up as best friends; flavors that (rationally) shouldn’t work together are absolutely delicious (sugar in your spaghetti sauce, sweet and sour sauce, etc.); dogs and cats live together in the same home…
OPPOSITES ATTRACT! And this rule is the foundation for most chemical reactions!
This week, I am going to show you how to create sparks within your mouth using nothing but a piece of candy.
Don’t worry parents! I promise no children will spontaneously combust during this activity!
The first thing we are going to do is review the four basic concepts of science:
If you have been following this blog at all, you should be very aware of how these four main concepts can be found throughout the kitchen. But this week, we are going to dig a little deeper into the ATOM to learn how to create sparks in your mouth with only a piece of candy. So let’s get started:
Each ATOM is made up of different amounts of three different (smaller) objects:
PROTONS – these guys are positively charged
ELECTRONS – these guys are the opposite of protons… they are NEGATIVELY charged
and NEUTRONS – these guys have NO charge at all!
For our purposes, we are going to look at our oppositely charged friends – the protons and electrons.
IT’S TIME TO START SPARKING!
Since all ATOMS contain (most of the time) an equal number of protons and electrons, groups of these ATOMS (molecules) have no charge at all. This includes sugar molecules too!
However, something interesting happens when you crush large sugar crystals with your teeth…
HALF OF THE CRUSHED CRYSTALS CONTAIN MORE ELECTRONS THAN THE OTHER HALF!
This means that you have a higher DENSITY of little crystals in your mouth that are positively charged (more protons) and negatively charged (more electrons.) And, since opposites attract, these extra electrons start to jump off of their crystals and DIFFUSE towards the crystals with more protons!
SO WHAT?
Well, the movement of electrons from one place to another is the definition of a little thing we like to call…
ELECTRICITY!
As these electrons jump towards the protons in the sugar crystals, they travel through the air within your mouth. And, most of the air that we breathe is made up of a particular ATOM called nitrogen.
When electrons smash into Nitrogen ATOMS you get a SPARK!
This is the same thing that happens during a lightning strike as well (only with many more moving electrons!)
LET’S SUM THIS UP…
If you bite down into a hard candy that contains wintergreen oil (Wint-O-Green Lifesavers are great) you will see sparks! Naturally, you will want your eyes to adjust to the darkness before you try this one. You will want to sit in a darkened room for a few minutes and close your eyes to speed up the process. And, if you are worried about your teeth, you can smash the candy with a hammer (just don’t hit a finger instead!)
WHY WINTERGREEN OIL?
There is a molecule within wintergreen oil that has a special property when it is exposed to light. This property is called fluorescence (“floor-ess-sense.”) A molecule that has this property acts like a sponge towards light – it soaks it up, stores it for a brief moment, and when there is no more light to absorb it gives off all that light in one big burst!
So when that little spark takes place as electrons smash into nitrogen ATOMS, the wintogreen oil absorbs a lot of the light that is given off, stores it for a millisecond, and releases it throughout your mouth.
Remember, you are not creating any light energy in your mouth at all! The molecules within the oil are simply soaking them up and releasing them in one quick burst! Much like ATOMS, light energy also follows the LAW OF CONSERVATION beautifully as no energy is being created or destroyed, only moved around!
Candies have a lot of cool properties we will explore in these next few posts. Check back next week for another cool experiment you can run at home after a trip through the candy aisle…
Learn more about chemistry concepts (and many more) in the Classic Science: Series for the Family and be certain to come back every Thursday or subscribe to The Blog of Mr.Q to learn more about how to teach science during breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
