#Spearmint lifesavers spark in the dark free

So why do the Wintergreen Lifesavers seem to flash so much brighter than other hard sugar candies? It turns out, there is a fluorescent chemical flavoring, methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen), in the Wintergreen Lifesavers.

So then, most all hard sugar candy will emit anywhere from a very faint brief glow in the visible spectrum, to a relatively bright flash when crunched, depending on what other chemicals are also in the candy for the electrons to react with.įor the somewhat less technical answer, when sugar crystals are crushed, they emit an electrical discharge that can excite molecules near the discharge, such as nitrogen in the air, which will then in turn make them give off various types of light while they are in this excited state.

#Spearmint lifesavers spark in the dark free

There is also, though, some visible light created when the crystal molecules recombine with some of the free electrons, when they jump across the crystalline structure. These nitrogen molecules then emit ultraviolet light, which is outside of the human visual spectrum. When these free electrons then bump into, say, nitrogen molecules in the air, they transfer energy to the nitrogen molecules, causing them to vibrate. These electric fields can rip the outer electrons from the molecules. This happens when stress is created in the crystals creating an electric field. So what is going on here? For the technical answer, triboluminescence occurs when molecules, such as sugar crystals, are crushed, forcing a certain amount of electrons out of their atomic fields, often forcing these electrons to jump across gaps in the crystalline structure. When these chunks were nipped off in low light settings, people began noticing flashes of light around the breaking points. Chunks were then broken off these large cones in various sizes to be sold to customers. The English scholar Francis Bacon wrote in Novum Organum in 1620, “It is well known that all sugar, whether candied or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped in the dark.” Likewise, in the late 1700’s, sugar producers began to produce sugar crystals formed into a large solid cone.

This phenomenon has been noticed throughout history, long before Lifesavers were invented. However, many other kinds of hard sugar candies, such as normal fruit lifesavers will give off a very dim flash in the visual spectrum if crunched and a nice bright flash in the ultra-violet spectrum. With most hard sugar candies, this flash tends to be mostly outside of the human visual spectrum typically giving off most of the flash in the ultra-violet spectrum. The flash you see when these hard sugar candies are crunched is caused by triboluminescence, which is similar to the electrical charge build-up that produces lightning, except on a much smaller scale here. Today I fount out that all lifesavers spark when chewed, not just the Wintergreen Lifesavers (also known as Wint-O-Green).