(The tale of the Glowing Pickle, electroluminescence in pickles, Organic Illumination Systems, Pickle Electrocution, Glowing Veggies, Electromagnetic Emissions from Food…)

So there we were, hanging out at my apartment playing a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit. Now, I enjoy a good battle of the minds, but this was Friday and this party needed squirt of lighter fluid on the fire, if you catch my drift. That’s when I thought of the ol’ pickle experiment. “Let’s make a run over to Dan’s Foods”, I offered. We all piled into the Xterra and drove down to the grocery store where we purchased a large jar of dill pickles, and a flying monkey toy (more about that later). It must have appeared odd to the cashier for a group of kids to be purchasing only a jar of pickles and a stuffed monkey on a Friday night, but that’s what we did. When we arrived home – Wait!, I think my lawyer sister will insist I insert the standard disclaimer here: Warning! This is a dangerous, possibly deadly activity. Don’t try this at home.

I suppose you could if you really wanted to. Just be careful. And you didn’t hear this stuff from me, capiche? Tell ‘em you got it “off the net somewhere.”

So there we were, in the kitchen with the pickles. Well, we really only needed one pickle and, in fact, that reminds me — I don’t like to eat pickles, so if anyone would like a fresh jar of pickles, just drop by and they’re yours. Where was I? Oh, yes, in the kitchen, with the wire cutters. I snipped the end off a power cord, separated the two wires, stripped a 1/2″ of insulation off each wire and stuck the wires into the one full sized, uncut, fresh and crispy pickle. Then I flipped off the lights and plugged in the cord to the GFCI outlet. Zappppp! With loud crackling noises, a puff of steam and smoke, an eerie, bright yellow flashing, flickering light, a sharp, harsh, pickle smell floated through the air. Then, without warning, Whammo! Bam! Poof! The wires got a bit two close and, with a small explosion, shorted out, first frying the power strip I had used as an extension cord and then popping the circuit breaker. We arranged the burned pickle on a plate, drizzled it with ketchup and presented it to nhill (my brother’s girlfriend), a gourmand of national renown, for her review. She was grossed out, just like we had expected.

“Why the glow”, you ask? Well, pickles contain lots of salt (NaCl). When electricity passes through the pickle, “energy transfer boosts the energy of the electrons within sodium atoms. When these sodium electrons drop back to lower energy states they emit energy as light, or glow. It’s the same process that makes neon or argon gases glow in a neon sign”. (Professor Whitesell)

Pickle Movie (thanks to Lori of http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/6603/glowing.html)

pickle essay: http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=1718

Note: If you soak the pickle for a week in a brine made with Salt Substitute, potassium chloride, the yellow glow will be replaced by a pink glow from the potassium. http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/aaptelectric/glowingpickle.html

References:

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/6603/instructions.html

http://members.tripod.com/~Shady_Hollow/Projects/gpickle.html