We brought a "mad scientist" into our ABC7 studio to show us how to do a few fun experiments.
Mike Davis, Associate Vice Chancellor for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) at City Colleges of Chicago (www.ccc.edu/Pages/default.aspx), even showed an experiment you can do right at home with your kids!
At Home Experiment: Glow Sticks and Temperature
Materials:
(2) Glow sticks
1 glass of ice water
1 glass of warm/hot water
Instructions:
1. Activate the glow sticks using their instructions.
2. Place one glow stick into the warm water bath.
3. Place one glow stick into the cold water bath.
Discussion:
There are two chemicals that combine to make a glowing solution.
That makes it a chemical reaction.
Temperature has a large effect on the speed of chemical reactions.
For this reaction increasing the temperature (warm water) makes the reaction speed up, and the stick glows more intensely.
Decreasing the temperature makes the reaction slow down, and the stick glows more dimly.
Overall, the same amount of light is given off, so the warm one will run out of light first, and the cold one will last longer.
