Anybody with some chemistry know how?

[baxtej44]

We're doing a glow stick experiment in my chemistry lab.

what we have:
luminol
hydrogen peroxide (3% i believe)
NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide)
H202 (Hydrogen Peroxide)
HCl (Hydrochloric Acid)
DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide)
NaClO (Bleach)
Distilled Water

We have gotten so close to getting an effective glow (we want this to last as long as possible) but we just can't get anything that lasts long enough.

So far, we've figured out that we need to dissolve our luminol in just a little bit of the NaOH, and that the bleach reacts to make the light. I can post more of our findings if you want.

Ice is out of the question, and we have to mix two test tubes together, both containing clear liquid, with completely dissolved luminol in one of them.

Any ideas?

 

[pillen140]

needs more luminal..... jk, i have absolutly no idea what im talking about... but by the name of it, it sounds like you need more of it! lol.

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa031703a.htm
http://www.ehow.com/about_5241805_chemicals-glow-sticks_.html

Or always check you tube!!!

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091119110646AATQ5Y1

I would put luminol in the first test tube - probably about 0.085 g. You probably want it to dissolve so you'll probably want to add some of the sodium hydroxide - just a bit though, you don't want to overdo it. Then, I would add 5.5 mL of water. Do you think you can get your hands on some tap water from Atchison, KS. Mmm, mmm, mmm Atchison water just has something in it that makes it special. Mix this up by pouring back and forth between two test tubes.

Then in the second test tube. Put in some bleach and water. You only need enough bleach to react with all of the luminol, extra just means that there are more NaOCl(aq) ions near the luminol and they don't have to travel as far to get there. Then add 5 mL of the water and mix well.

I think your instructor might just be messing with you by giving you those other things. But then again maybe they could be important? Do you have the kind of instructor who provides an experiential-discovery based learning experience where he expects you to learn by doing? Or the kind who will just tell you the answer?

 

[baxtej44]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091119110646AATQ5Y1

I would put luminol in the first test tube - probably about 0.085 g. You probably want it to dissolve so you'll probably want to add some of the sodium hydroxide - just a bit though, you don't want to overdo it. Then, I would add 5.5 mL of water. Do you think you can get your hands on some tap water from Atchison, KS. Mmm, mmm, mmm Atchison water just has something in it that makes it special. Mix this up by pouring back and forth between two test tubes.

Then in the second test tube. Put in some bleach and water. You only need enough bleach to react with all of the luminol, extra just means that there are more NaOCl(aq) ions near the luminol and they don't have to travel as far to get there. Then add 5 mL of the water and mix well.

I think your instructor might just be messing with you by giving you those other things. But then again maybe they could be important? Do you have the kind of instructor who provides an experiential-discovery based learning experience where he expects you to learn by doing? Or the kind who will just tell you the answer?

it's funny that you should post this. this is an answer from my teacher to one of his students last year. however, we haven't had lab yet to test if this works or not.





also, so with the ehow website, i don't have that last chemical, what of the above chemicals could give up electrons to the luminol?

alkalinity could be gotten from the NaOH, the hydrogen peroxide is the oxidizing agent, but not i just need something that has a low affinity for its' electrons.

 

[straycat]

Big word of caution....dangerous...do not touch the liquid or spill it anywhere.

Some luminol (crimescene stuff...makes bloodstains glow). 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, two big mixing bowls, distilled water, sodium carbonate, and copper sulfate pentahydrate. The hydrogen peroxide can be found at Walgreens and the others on the Web or in your case you stole it...lol.

First bowl: put in one liter of water, add to it the hydrogen peroxide. You are just diluting the peroxide. In another bowl, use the rest of the water and 4 grams of sodium carbonate, which will cause the other chemicals to mix together better.

Now, add to the sodium carbonate mixture 0.4 grams of copper sulfate pentahydrate. This is what causes the luminol to glow. As far as I remember.... Luminol can only dissolve in highly alkaline solutions—11.8 pH.

And now we carefully add 0.2 grams of luminol to the sodium carbonate/copper solution. And here we are with a fully prepped solution, just waiting to glow.

Now for the the diluted hydrogen peroxide can be added to the luminol solution. The hydrogen peroxide replaces two of luminol’s nitrogen atoms with oxygen, which the glow in our glowstick!

See what happens and enjoy the glow stik...or do what I do....GO OUT AND BUY SOME!!!!!!! lol

 

[adsm08]

add some uranium.

 

[baxtej44]

Big word of caution....dangerous...do not touch the liquid or spill it anywhere.

Some luminol (crimescene stuff...makes bloodstains glow). 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, two big mixing bowls, distilled water, sodium carbonate, and copper sulfate pentahydrate. The hydrogen peroxide can be found at Walgreens and the others on the Web or in your case you stole it...lol.

First bowl: put in one liter of water, add to it the hydrogen peroxide. You are just diluting the peroxide. In another bowl, use the rest of the water and 4 grams of sodium carbonate, which will cause the other chemicals to mix together better.

Now, add to the sodium carbonate mixture 0.4 grams of copper sulfate pentahydrate. This is what causes the luminol to glow. As far as I remember.... Luminol can only dissolve in highly alkaline solutions—11.8 pH.

And now we carefully add 0.2 grams of luminol to the sodium carbonate/copper solution. And here we are with a fully prepped solution, just waiting to glow.

Now for the the diluted hydrogen peroxide can be added to the luminol solution. The hydrogen peroxide replaces two of luminol’s nitrogen atoms with oxygen, which the glow in our glowstick!

See what happens and enjoy the glow stik...or do what I do....GO OUT AND BUY SOME!!!!!!! lol

shouldn't you have cited a source for this post? and i don't have the chemicals "you" told me to use. so i can't do what "you" told me to do.

add some uranium.

i wish not sure how it would work, but just saying i worked with uranium would be cool

 

[cody93]

lol, i was using 3 of those chemicals today for making and etching pcb boards, chemistry is fun!

 

[LIMA BEAN]

I like how hydrogen bombs make things glow, I am getting a warm fuzzy feeling now.

 

[straycat]

shouldn't you have cited a source for this post? and i don't have the chemicals "you" told me to use. so i can't do what "you" told me to do.



i wish not sure how it would work, but just saying i worked with uranium would be cool

You said you had an instructor, right? Ask him about it. He will tell you where to get the mixtures. I'm sure he can help you order stuff...legally.

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

I like how hydrogen bombs make things glow, I am getting a warm fuzzy feeling now.

From what ?????

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

Also i noticed that hydrogen peroxide is only 3% which might be the problem becuase every vid i look at use a better grade of hydrogen peroxide ..

 

[baxtej44]

You said you had an instructor, right? Ask him about it. He will tell you where to get the mixtures. I'm sure he can help you order stuff...legally.

it is our lab. we ONLY have those chemicals. it's supposed to be a learning experience, but it's so darn frustrating.

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

You are not learning if you are asking us!!!! It's called trial and error