Actually , all hard refined sugar - base candies emit some degree oflightwhen you bite them , but most of the time , that light is very faint . This consequence is calledtriboluminescence , which is similar to the electrical charge buildup that produceslightning , only much less exalted . Triboluminescence is the emission of light resulting from something being smashed or torn . When you rip a composition of tapeline off the roster , it will produce a slight glow for the same grounds .
Triboluminescence appears when molecules , in this suit crystallinesugars , are crushed , force someelectronsout of their atomic fields . These free electrons happen intonitrogen moleculesin the air . When they collide , the electrons impart free energy to the nitrogen molecules , do them to oscillate . In this emotional country , and so as to get free of the surplus muscularity , these nitrogen molecules emit igniter — mostly ultraviolet ( nonvisible ) light , but they do emit a small amount of visible light as well . This is why all hard , sugary candy will produce a faint glow when cracked .
But when you bite into a Wint - O - Green Life Saver , a much peachy amount of seeable light can be seen . This brighter light source is produced by the checkerberry flavoring . Methyl salicylate , or oil of wintergreen , isfluorescent , meaning it absorbs light of a shorterwavelengthand then breathe it as light of a longer wavelength . Ultraviolet ignitor has a shorter wavelength than seeable light . So , when a Wint - type O - Green Life Saver is crush between your teeth , the methyl radical salicylate particle immerse the ultraviolet radiation , shorter wavelength Christ Within produced by the excited nitrogen , and re - emit it as light of the visible spectrum , specifically as blue light — thus the blue trip that jump out of your mouth when you scraunch on a Wint - oxygen - Green Life Saver .
