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Hi, I'm Dr. Anne Helmenstine for About.com.
You can use chemistry to create a lot of cool
special effects. I'm going to show you two
easy ways to turn water into glowing water,
which you can use to make glowing fountains
or even glowing drinks. First I'll show you
how to make glowing water and then I'll explain
how it works.
Highlighters and Glowing Water
The first method involves dyeing water with
the glowing ink found in non-toxic highlighter
pens. Cut the highlighter open with a knife
to expose the material that contains the ink.
Typically, this is a plastic coated fibrous
tube. Remove the tube with the ink and slice
it open so that the ink can flow out of the
fibers. You can soak the ink pad in water
for a few hours or use gloved hands to squeeze
the ink into the water.
All it takes to make the water glow is to
shine a black light or ultraviolet lamp on
the water. You can store the glowing water
in a sealed container and use it again and
again. It will not go bad and the glow will
never fade.
Drinkable Glowing Tonic Water
The highlighter solution is non-toxic, but
it tastes terrible. If you want glowing water
for drinks, you can use tonic water, which
you can buy at a grocery store. Tonic water
contains a chemical called quinine which gives
it a distinctive taste and makes it glow bright
blue when the water is exposed to black light.
Florescent Compounds in Glowing Water
Highlighters and tonic water glow because
they contain chemicals which are fluorescent.
Fluorescent compounds absorb light and then
release it back. In this case, they absorb
highly energetic but invisible ultraviolet
light and release less energetic visible light.
The water is transparent so it is easy to
color with these glowing chemicals.
I hope you have enjoyed this easy glowing
water project. To get ideas for more projects,
visit me on the web at About.com. Thanks for
watching!