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Electric Candy - Or Triboluminescence

© Lisa Hawkins

This experiment is tons of fun and will cost less than fifty cents! I have even done this experiment for my own friends! I think this is a great way to get kids excited about science and about school. As I have said in past articles, I am a firm believer in hands on activities for kids. I think they will recall the facts more clearly when they are experiencing them first hand. Think of how many things you, yourself have read in school and forgotten. Did you forget where you went on vacation last year? Of course not. You were there and experienced it first hand. You touched it, ate it, smelled it and felt it. I am sure this is one experiment the kids will not forget.

The next time you are in the grocery store line and the kids ask for some candy, suggest that they try Lifesaver Wintergreen candy. The hard part will be getting them to save a few pieces for them to enjoy at night time. These candies can be fully enjoyed when it’s really dark outside.

Electric Candy- Or Triboluminescence

Materials Needed:
Lifesaver Wintergreen mints
A very dark room
A mirror in the very dark room- (generally a bathroom at night will work great)
One kid who can chew really fast (I don‘t suggest this experiment for folks with caps on their teeth)

Hopefully you have saved a few pieces of candy for the evening. Tell the kids that those candies can make electricity.

Take the kids into the bathroom and stand them in front of the mirror. They need to be able to see themselves in order to enjoy the experiment.

Close the door to the bathroom and turn out the light.

Give the child a piece of the candy and then tell them to chew it up really fast , with their mouth open.

Make sure they are looking in the mirror at themselves as they chew up the candy.

You and your child will see greenish sparks coming out of their mouth.

Why does this work?

The wintergreen candy contains wintergreen oil. When the candy is chewed the wintergreen oil rubs against the course sugar and an electrical charge is produced. Some matter produces a chemical charge when fractured. This electrical charge is visible as light (the small sparks you saw in your child’s mouth). This reaction is known as triboluminescence. That’s a pretty fancy word for sparks coming out of your mouth while eating candy!

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