This puts glowsticks to shame

[Blackett]

yeah it's the combination of the two on the striking pad that actually does it.

try storm matches.

[jimmy101]

I doubt it, as safety matches lack white phosphorus.

I don't think strike anywhere matches contain any white phosphorous, at least they haven't for the last hundred years or so.

White phosphorous is incredibly dangerous stuff since it can spontaneously ignite in air. Word for the day "pyrophoric", p-y-r-o-p-h-o-r-i-c. Sounds like fun until someone kills themselves, then it's ...

Modern strike anywhere matches use phosphorous compounds instead of white phosphorous. The wiki on matches is pretty good; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match


I wonder if the whole "glowing tomato" thing works without the entire tomato? If you take tomato extract and mix it with bleach and hydrogen peroxide I would think you would just get a flash of light. Does the tomato really do two things; provide a necessary chemical agent and a matrix that only allows the reagents to come together at a slow rate. The instructions say the peroxide is injected just under the 'mato's skin and the bleach is injected into the 'mato's center. Isn't the liquid in most glow sticks pretty viscous? The viscous nature of the mixture slows down how quickly the various reagents mix and extends the length of time the glow stick provides light. That might be one of the functions, and a requirement for, a whole 'mato.

A quick google failed to find any description of the actual chemistry involved. Lots of posts on how to do it but none, that I could find, on using other fruit or fruit extracts.

I wonder if you could use a pectin based jelly recipe to create an "artificial" 'mato with the correct properties. Yumm, V8 flavored jello that glows in the dark! (The possibilities for frat parties and spring break are endless.)

EDIT: If bad speeling killed I'd've been dead years ago.

[dauphinoise potato]

In good ol' Blighty we can by a pack of 4 packs of non saftey matches (average contents of 85 matches per box) for a bout 70p in our local supemarket