Why do wintergreen mint lifesavers spark in your mouth?

Have you ever eaten a wintergreen lifesaver in the dark when someone else was watching? If so, they saw a green spark while you were chewing it. this is why you see it:


http://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/tag/spark/

"Triboluminescence

Wintergreen mints of all types emit light when the candy is bitten into. The light may be very faint, but it can occasionally be spectacular. The effect, called triboluminescence, is due to the electrical charge that builds up within the crystalline structure of the sugar within the candy. The triboluminescence occurs when the electrical charge is violently released as the structure of the crystals is broken. Of course, it isn't just sugary candies that produce this light; when anything is torn or broken, the same thing can occur. When atoms are forced violently apart, they lose a larger portion of their electrons far more quickly than normal. As the electrons search for balance, they bounce around until they find somewhere to rest.

Wintergreen Oil

When the atoms are crushed, the electrons are forced out of their atomic orbits. These electrons collide with air molecules and the electrons transfer a portion of their energy in the collision. Because there is an excess of energy, a portion of that energy is emitted as visible light. With wintergreen mints, this visible light is bright blue, and while there isn't very much of it, it is extremely bright. The more pieces of candy that are crushed at one time, the greater the amount of atomic damage, and the more spectacular the light show. Wintergreen mints will emit a greater than normal amount of visible light because the wintergreen oil is fluorescent. The oil within the candy emits the light that is of a longer wavelength, and more easily seen by the human eye. The interesting thing about the wintergreen oil is that it absorbs the shorter wavelength light that is typically emitted and emits the longer wavelengths in its place. That's why the wintergreen candies will emit a much stronger "spark" than other candies."

Read more: Why Do Wintergreen Mints Spark in Your Mouth? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5164047_do-wintergreen-mints-spark-mouth.html#ixzz15gXk9ZV9



http://myweb.lmu.edu/jphillips/201_F02/week1/fri1.html

"What do you see" experiment results

None of the answers were the same! everyone who participated in the experiment saw different things for each photo. Do you see what they saw? Thanks to all the people who participated!

1. Cracked metal http://www.vrperformance.com/mt/2008/11/cracking_up_e46_subframe_issue.html

2. Ivy leaves www.gardeninggonewild.com

3. Bacteria art http://star.tau.ac.il/~eshel/index.html

4. Sunspot http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051106.html

5. Bacteria http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2007/11/hold-antibiotics-infections-critical-healthy-life

RESULTS:

#1: cracked metal

Petrified wood
Part of a car, or a prosthetic leg
a picture of a sunken ship in water upside down
a turtles head


#2: ivy leaves

Ivy leaves
Ivy leaves
underwater planty stuff


#3: Bacteria art

ferns
plant roots
an old button with feathers coming off
something too small to see without a microscope


#4: sunspot

sea urchin
part of a flower, or a UFO
a bunch of seeds
the inside of a flower


#5: bacteria

worms
scary aliens
oil stuff in water
some sort of very small worm

The science behind brushing 2-3 times a day

Have you ever wondered why your parents tell you to brush every day, twice a day? I mean, apart from the obviou. I found some sights in which I took a few quotes from to help explain why doctors and parents tell you to brush 2-3 times a day.

"The study published Friday in the British Medical Journal found that individuals with poor oral hygiene have a 70 percent increased risk of heart disease compared with people who brush twice daily." http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/28/brush-your-teeth-save-your-heart/?hpt=Sbin

read research here

"7 Reasons to Brush Your Teeth Twice a Day

1.Fluoride

2.Bacteria

3.Saliva production

4.prevent tartar build up

5.protect gums

6.fresh breath

7.improved overal health
"When you brush before going to bed it’s a first line of defense against the formation of cavities while you sleep."

Read more: http://www.sanedentist.com/7-reasons-to-brush-your-teeth-twice-a-day.html#ixzz14kC6dt5t

"Failure to brush your teeth twice a day increases risk of heart disease"

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=failure-to-brush-your-teeth-twice-a-2010-05-27

What do you see?

I'm not looking for a certain answer, just tell me what you see in these photos.
Please don't look at the links until you have finished guessing.
post what you see in the comments section below! thx
example answer:
COMMENTS PAGE


1. a cracker
2. a clown
3. an apple
4. a soda bottle
5. someone doing CPR on an old guy
(but put what you really think, not jokes)

1.
link is here

2.
link is here

3.
link is here

4.
link is here

5.
link is here

The Butter Was Great!

the butter was truly amazing! It was way more than I expected it to be. It tasted like unsalted butter with a hint of cream. It melted right in your more so quickly that you wish it lasted longer!

YUM!

Experimenting With Vinegar

      Today I decided to experiment with vinegar. Of course I knew that if you put baking soda in vinegar it will fizzle and bubble but, I wanted to see what other things would bubble. So first I tried putting yeast into vinegar:

1 packet      2 spoonfuls
Yeast + vinegar = Clumpy, not enough vinegar, smells bad, chunky

<---Looks like it's watery but it's not!

1 spoon    2 spoons
Salt + vinegar = Tiny fizzling, not amazing

1 spoon                 2 spoons

baking soda + vinegar = fizzling, bubbling, cakes at bottom, vinegar on top

      Well, all in all, this experiment was not a great success, well, I guess it was because you can never have and unsuccessful experiment. Really it is just unexpected results which can be good thing!

    I guess I was just a little let down. It happens sometimes! Thanks for reading and come again when I do my next experiment (soon), it will be fun! I'm testing sodas and Mentos. (BOOM!) :P :)

Upcoming Experiments:

1. This weekend, I am going to get five kinds of sodas and two kinds of mentos and test the altitude of the soda's spurt height.

2. Not long after that, I will test what happens when your pour different things into vinegar.

3. And not long after that, I will grow mustard plants and see how long it takes.

post any suggestions in the comments! thx