A Hedon's Life. | Psychedelic Philosopher

January 29, 2012

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oblivioncontinuum:

Glowsticks: how do they work?
The emission of light is the only physics principle involved here, but the chemistry isn’t that hard to understand the basis of. Glowsticks work by mixing two compounds, typically hydrogen peroxide and a phenyl oxalate ester. The hydrogen peroxide is kept in a separate glass tube, which is broken when the glowstick is bent. The ester is then oxidized by the hydrogen peroxide, which creates a chemical called phenol and an unstable peroxyacid ester. That peroxyacid ester decomposes and additional phenol is released amongst a cyclic peroxy compound, which decomposes into carbon dioxide. This decompostion releases a substantial amount of energy, which is not observed without the presence of a fluorescent dye. Moving on.
The dye is the component capable of chemiluminescence, which is why light is not emitted without it. When the energy from the decomposing cyclic peroxy compound is transferred to the dye, the electrons are temporarily excited into a higher energy level and when they eventually fall back to the ground state, the loss of energy of the electron is released as a photon. The colour, or frequency of this photon depends on how much energy it is released with. The higher the energy, the further toward the violet end of the spectrum the light emitted will be. Different dyes rely on different amounts of energy to excite electrons, which is why other frequencies are emitted.
The speed and intensity of the reaction is dependent on the chemicals used, but also the temperature. Putting a glowstick in the freezer slows the atoms’ collisions down, therefore releasing less energy over the same amount of time which causes less photons to be emitted. However, the reaction lasts a lot longer. The opposite is true for higher temperatures, where the light is brighter, but the glowstick won’t last as long. In conclusion, glowsticks are really cool.

Glowsticks: how do they work?

The emission of light is the only physics principle involved here, but the chemistry isn’t that hard to understand the basis of. Glowsticks work by mixing two compounds, typically hydrogen peroxide and a phenyl oxalate ester. The hydrogen peroxide is kept in a separate glass tube, which is broken when the glowstick is bent. The ester is then oxidized by the hydrogen peroxide, which creates a chemical called phenol and an unstable peroxyacid ester. That peroxyacid ester decomposes and additional phenol is released amongst a cyclic peroxy compound, which decomposes into carbon dioxide. This decompostion releases a substantial amount of energy, which is not observed without the presence of a fluorescent dye. Moving on.

The dye is the component capable of chemiluminescence, which is why light is not emitted without it. When the energy from the decomposing cyclic peroxy compound is transferred to the dye, the electrons are temporarily excited into a higher energy level and when they eventually fall back to the ground state, the loss of energy of the electron is released as a photon. The colour, or frequency of this photon depends on how much energy it is released with. The higher the energy, the further toward the violet end of the spectrum the light emitted will be. Different dyes rely on different amounts of energy to excite electrons, which is why other frequencies are emitted.

The speed and intensity of the reaction is dependent on the chemicals used, but also the temperature. Putting a glowstick in the freezer slows the atoms’ collisions down, therefore releasing less energy over the same amount of time which causes less photons to be emitted. However, the reaction lasts a lot longer. The opposite is true for higher temperatures, where the light is brighter, but the glowstick won’t last as long. In conclusion, glowsticks are really cool.

(via fyeahchemistry)

January 28, 2012

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dvdp:

120127

January 28, 2012

Tagged:
/My Chemical Romance/

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Saw My Chemical Romance last night. It felt strangely good seeing them. Especially seeing them at the same location and (from memory) the same month I saw then 5-6 years ago. It was weird to see all those songs that defined my teenage years again, when I’ve done so much in those years and gone through so many life changing events, it gave me the weirdest experience of nostalgia I’ve ever felt.

It was also strange seeing their fan base now. The fans still manage to make the mosh one of the most terrifying moshes I’ve been in, but I was surprised mostly at seeing older, middle aged people singing along to their songs (mostly their newer ones).

All in all I got to hear my favourite songs mixed up in different ways and I got to spend another entire concert with my wonderful girl in my arms.

January 27, 2012

Tagged:
/Evil Dead 2//Sam Raimi//Bruce Campbell/

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Interestingly, the book he uses to hold the bucket on top of the wild hand is “A Call To Arms”

(Source: nuns-vs-zombies, via bobafeet)

January 27, 2012

Tagged:
/Aurora/

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unknownskywalker:

Jupiter rising by Jason Ahrns

January 27, 2012

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I think I just enjoy pretending to be someone else with a different personality every now and then. Usually it’s pretending to be someone I hate so I can see how fun their life must be for me to hate them so much.

January 27, 2012

Tagged:
/The Matrix/

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