Glow Sticks Research Paper

Words: 555
Pages: 3

Glow sticks are misinterpreted in many ways but in one drastic way that we will be discussing. Some people call glowsticks a chemical change and some call them physical changes, but there is only one true answer. We will be explaining the correct answer and how it’s a physical or chemical change through evidence within the reaction of a glow stick. How you determine if the its its chemical change or a physical change is how the substances react to each other. To know how to determine it you need to know the difference between the two. There are several differences between a physical and chemical change in matter or substances. A physical change in a substance doesn’t change what the substance is but the appearance of the substance. A chemical change is where a chemical reaction takes place where a new substance is formed and energy is either given off or absorbed. There are things to look for when looking for a chemical or physical change. There are four things that you can look for to know if it’s a chemical change. Those four things are a change in color, a change in temperature, and …show more content…
There are two different types of glow sticks. There are glow sticks with a glass vial in them and some skinnier ones without but we will be talking about the thicker ones with a glass vial. On the outside of the vial there is something called H2O2 or hydrogen peroxide. On the inside of the vial there is something called phenyl oxalate esters or bis. When you bend or snap the glow stick it starts to glow which mean you’ve snapped the vial inside and the hydrogen peroxide has made contact with the phenyl oxalate esters. When the substances come in contact with each other the reaction occurs which makes the molecules from both substances absolutely freak out. This reaction uses kinetic energy to produce the color that you see in your glow