Glowing pickle demonstration explained

Applying line voltage across a pickled cucumber causes it to glow. A moist pickle contains salt as a result of the pickling process, which allows it to conduct electricity. Sodium (or other) ions within the pickle emit light as a result of atomic electron transitions, although it is not clear why the luminescence occurs at one end of the pickle.[1]

The glowing pickle is used to demonstrate ionic conduction and atomic emission in chemistry classes,[2] and also as a demonstration in lighting classes.[3]

The first known fully documented demonstration was in a 1989 report from Digital Equipment Corporation.[4] Although this was published as a full technical note and written up as a scientific paper, the publication date, April Fools' Day of that year, gives some indication as to the light-hearted nature of the document.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Gardner . Martin . Martin Gardner . Martin Gardner's Science Magic: Tricks and Puzzles . 19 September 2012 . Courier Corporation . 978-0486152905 . 56 . 6 December 2017.
  2. Web site: Electrocute a Pickle . Rogers . Casey . June 13, 2011 . ChemDemo.
  3. Web site: How to Make the Electric Pickle Experiment . August 26, 2013 . Jim . Hutchison . Jim on Light.
  4. Web site: Characterization of Organic Illumination Systems . April 1, 1989 . January 16, 2021 . December 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211202174442/https://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/Compaq-DEC/WRL-TN-13.pdf . dead .