The JumpStart Blog

Does that quick flash of lightning in a stormy sky fascinate and excite your child? Well now you do not need to wait for the next thunderstorm to see lightning. You can make it whenever you want – in your mouth! (Don’t worry, it’s easy and pain free) And if your child is more fearful than excited about lighting, this can be a great activity to make lightning less frightening.

What you need:

• Wintergreen-flavored LifeSavers
• A dark room
• A mirror

What to do:

1.  Take your child, the Wintergreen LifeSavers, and a mirror into a dark room.  Wait a moment until your eyes adjust to the darkness. (The bathroom is a great place to do this experiment because you can both watch the lightning sensation happen in the mirror.)
2.  Then, have your child put a piece of the candy into their mouth. This is a very special moment, because it is the one time they will be allowed to chew with their mouth open!
3.  Have your child bite down on the LifeSaver and chew on it with their mouth as open as possible. In the mirror, they should see lightning like sparks shooting from their teeth each time they crunch down!

While it might seem like magic, there is a scientific explanation to why chewing a wintergreen LifeSaver can cause a lightning storm in your mouth. The simple explanation is that you are creating light in your mouth with the friction between your teeth and the crunching of the candy. However if you have an extra-curious scientist, the full explanation is that a when you break the LifeSaver apart by chewing, you crush sugar crystals that then create electric fields in your mouth. Just like the electric fields found in lightning storms, these fields take electrons away from molecules. When the electrons reunite with the molecules they create a spark. The wintergreen oil found in your LifeSaver is responsible for the cool blue color that you see when you chew!

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Filed under: Just for Fun! Tagged: | family activities, fighting boredom, science