I have not updated you on my grandson Hank for a while. Hank tells me he will be 5 in 27 days-I think that is correct or close enough. Tonight we went for a walk after dark on the golf course to throw the glow ball to the dog. Hank informed me that bad people come out in the dark-for reals! I guess that was offset in his mind because that is when the imaginary bad creatures come out. Hank had a flashlight and a glow stick so we could see our way. As we proceeded Hank asked “what’s glowing on” Boompa? This humor was followed by a laugh and a “did you get it.” I was telling Hank that I did this same thing every night and after some silent consideration he said “that’s lame”. I usually listen to music on my walks-much more fun seeing the world through his eyes.
Bubble bath time followed the walk and the glow stick was the toy of choice. Hank wanted to know how the stick worked. Chemiluminescence is the emission of light as a result of a chemical reaction. We listened to a video that explained that luminol reacting with hydrogen peroxide creates a chemical reaction that emits light. The various colors are the result of a fluorescent dye which absorbs the light from the reaction and releases it as another color. Any party is a good occasion for a glow stick but certainly they are a must for Halloween. If you want the stick to last longer put it in the refrigerator-it slows down the reaction .
Shedding light on current affairs is more of a challenge. One beauty of chemistry is the rules and outcomes are clear. Salt is sodium chloride with a boiling point of 2,575 degrees Fahrenheit. Seems that today facts are mostly fake news and fiction becomes fact if you say it enough times. Mark Twain once said “get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” We seem to have moved a step beyond this Twainism to just make up your own facts. Hank is correct “what’s glowing on?”
Enjoy your week end. Mike