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In this video I show you how to make triboluminescence with quartz crystals.
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Many years ago (1981), I was winter camping in the Welsh mountains. I'd brought along some Kendal Mint Cake. This is mostly sugar. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw light each time I broke a piece off. The air temperature was around -5 c. This video explains what I was seeing. Thank you.
Oh wow I had no idea Kendal mint cake did this, I'm definitely going to try it now!
nope, u hallicuneitang bruh! Get help before its too late
Cool story bro
that is not MANY YEARS ago than ancient times 🦕🦖🦕🦖
U old.
You should have had the lights off when you crushed the quartz in the hydraulic press. That would have been so cool! Great video as always :D
I was thinking that
You beat me, but then I thought spinning, or rubbing two crystals together, like on a lathe, or with a drill.
This is what I scrolled down to say too.
That’s what I was thinking too.
Great minds think alike!
I’m surprised you didn’t mention sugar crystals. I remember as a soldier getting sugar in plastic single serve bags for tea or coffee. If you rub the bag between thumb and forefinger in the dark, you can see the same phenomenon.
You Mean Sugar Cube???
That sounds much better and cheaper then buying expensive magic healing cristals from amazon. I remember as a kid i grew sugger crystals with my parents so if this works more people coud try this at home.
This is awesome, I was shown this light source some years ago by a rock collector who just sawed a round quartz rock in half on a wet saw. Rubbing the edge against the flat semi polished surface creates light. I've shown my wife and kids but I'm the only one that's still amazed by this....I like to geek out on stuff like this
Your wife and kids sound boring :( sorry bro
As a rockhound, I appreciate this knowledge. I knew quartz was piezoelectric, but didn't know a great way to exemplify it.
Had the same thought. Would this experiment be any better if the bottle was filled with a noble gas, like neon (or argon etc?)
He's a great teacher!
put it in resin make orgonite check out Etsy
I'm a rockhound too. I've learned more in this short video than I have in all my years of reading about them!
Love the video, but it’s a crime against science that you didn’t film the crushing of the crystal in a dark room.
It crime to operate hydraulic machine in dark
@@arjunravi1641it wouldn't be dark
@@pearlstar159 how
bc of the light@@arjunravi1641
I like it how the subtitles call it "tribal luminescence" when you are talking about buffalo skin rattles, but quickly changes to proper triboluminescence after you are done with the rattles :)
I discovered this years ago after I was told Australian Aboriginal shamans used clear quartz as a torch - I couldn't figure how this would work. When I rubbed two together I found the sparks were more internal in the crystal - however my crystals were smaller in diameter than those you have used. I wondered if a machine rubbed two together at a constant rate that perhaps they would "turn on" - light up like a bulb and stay alight?
Intersting. what tribe of australian aboriginals used this quartz torches? and yes, with the right shaking, and the right size of quartz with the correct size and ruffness, you can make them light up like the sun : )
Would have been cool to use the hydraulic press in the dark. Imagine that it would be quite a light show.
Exactly what i thought
EXACTLY what I was thinking!
I know, right?!
Won't happen
Isn't the light from friction (rubbing against each other)? Simply pressing it doesn't cause friction.
i remember doing this when i was a kid, grabbed 2 small rocks and did this and it was so cool. Glad to know what it was now.
Its called ✨The Spark✨
You know every so often you run across something new that you’ve never seen in your entire life. Other than Flint I have never seen this done this is amazing. What a great video man!
@The Action Lab, you should do one about sonoluminescence, the phenomenon where bubbles popping somehow make a flash of light.
I just ran outside to grab two pieces of rose quartz from a bag full I had outside. Woohoo! It worked! Wow!
I'm very sad that you had the light on during the hydraulic press part 😅 like that probably looked really cool in the dark
Man I love this channel and all the experiments you do. I am in my 30s and I am still soaking up all the information I can learn. I have a love for aviation, cars, the universe, and cool science like this
When I was a kid, my father use to live out in the country not far from a large river. The flood plain for this river was large and there were areas infilled between the more resistant rocks and hills that contained ancient gravel layers that were deposited from where the river use to flow freely. I guess erosion and tectonic action over the course of many millions of years changed the landscape. His yard was red/tan clay with lots of rounded quartz pieces but only a 1/2 mile up the road there were prominent hills with fresh vein quartz, slate and other rock types associated with this areas geological formations. On really dark nights we would go out in the driveway area which was really just a large barren patch of ground between the road and his house and pick up a piece of quartz and throw it at the ground. When the quartz struck other pieces of quartz it would often give off this same "flash" of light which lasted for only seconds. We didn't understand the science behind it at the time just thought it was cool.
I finally found out why envelopes emit blue glow when I open the sticky part. Thanks for this!
what..? for real?
@@judasthepious1499 for real what? Is it common knowledge?
My arse emits the aurora borealis southern lights when I open my sticky cheeks.
I was working years ago digging lakes and ponds for a new golf course in North Carolina and I dug *tons* of quartz crystals. Some of them were up to three feet in diameter. I wish I would have saved them but I didn't think they were worth anything, and it would have just been too much of a hassle as I was on an excavator and was too busy as well. I knew about their properties and uses but didn't know how I'd get them home too. Man that would have awesome to have a bunch though, especially the big ones. I wonder how much they sell for.
North Carolina is loaded with quartz crystals and plan old quartz. Indians in the foothill made arrow heads out of mostly quartz
Ay I live in NC 😎
Pretty sure some, large quartz sells for upwards of a few thousand dollars
A piece of smokey quartz about 3 feet tall by a foot in diameter sold for $20,000 on that old travel channel show where they follow crystal miners as they dig them out of the rocky mountains.
When I was a kid in the 60s we would get sparks like this with pieces of granite. Worked great.
I used to work at a shop that made quartz rings that would act as fill material in a critical step when making semiconductors. They were around 12" in diameter and could cost as much as 5000 a part. They were also super hard, but brittle, and were this special quartz alloy of sorts. Machining them with diamond tooling was hard to do correctly. Whenever we'd scrap one we'd have to break it by throwing it into a bin. It was cool seeing them spark when they broke.
Why would you "have to"?
I live in the region where The Ute used to live and there are some areas with large amounts of perfectly sized quartz easily accessible on or near the surface so I definitly could understand them making stuff with them.
there's a phenomenon called "earthquake light" that happened when large chunk of quartz (im talking about 10m+/30ft+ chunk) rubbing each other because an earthquake and causing this phenomenon
Bruh your ability to find unheard of but stunning to see bits of science is crazy. Thank you for this - long time viewer, but had to chime in.
That actually made me sad to see the crystal get crushed. 😢 I love crystals. They are so special to so many people including myself. I have a nice collection that continues to grow and they are like family to me. This was super cool to see and I loved seeing the lights emitted from the friction.
You know that old fashioned watches used quartz for time keeping? And if you're using a Smartphone, more precious stones than quartz are used to make them! From a fellow crystal collector.
Lol sad over a rock getting crushed?? lol what world do you live in?!
This phenomenon actually a news to me. I'm curious now to test it myself. Thank you
In high school I found a large piece of clear acrylic, about the size of a brick. In a dark room, I could smash a sugar cube and get it fairly bright flash from it. It worked great.
Would the whole acrylic plate light up or just the place where the cube hit?
You don't need to break them. They make light and elecitricty without them breaking, that's how piezoelectric ignitors (in cigarette lighters, bbq pit starters, etc) ignitors work, it hits them with a spring loaded hammer, but not hard enough to shatter them. There is a metal foil attached top and bottom, going to wires, where you want the electricity to go. They can make tens of thousands of volts! Edit: The BBQ ignitors are real useful tools! On old style christmas lights (pre-led), zap the prongs, and it makes them work again! Christmas lights have a little fuse at the bottom, to bypass a burned out bulb, but sometimes there isn't enough voltage to cause the breakdown. Zapping a few times with a piezo ignitor, with thousands of volts, is enough to blow holes through the material, so when you plug it back into mains, it can then work properly! A few other uses too!
Why not try a door bell buzzer that has a striker hitting the bell at 60 times/second? You could epoxy one good sized crystal to the striker and replace the bell with another large crystal and...plug it in. Might be interesting to see how much light, if any, is emitted. Keep up the great work that you do.
Very interesting! I've always thought of triboluminescence to occur only with exotic chemicals (the channel Nurdrage has made a few videos regarding this) or very dimly with the tape. But now that I know you can just get quite intense triboluminescence with simple quartz, I might just pop over to Arkensas to get some 😁
@Don't Read My Profile Photo 😎
@Don't Read My Profile Photo 🤡
@Don't Read My Profile Photo Clever way to try to get me to click on your channel. It's not gonna work though
@@DANGJOS "clever" it's overdone
@@vibaj16 I don't disagree.
Maybe they make it in such a way that the skin pulls in on two big pieces, so when they are being shaken, the rocks actually rub against each other emitting more light
he did not try medium sized pieces either
I was looking for a comment like this
I introduced myself to this as of a few hours ago and tried it personally. It was like messing with matches in the dark. It was a big deal. Voila!!! There it sparked.
Piezoelectricity is produced when some crystalline structures / materials are put under stress when bending or twisting pressure is applied. Piezoelectric effects are commonly used in vibration pickup sensors and strain gauges which are calibrated by design to translate the level of output voltage (and the frequency of that voltage) into a value that can be interpreted into a fairly accurate display output. The luminescent effects of stressing crystalline molecular / compounds / materials are related to piezoelectricity in that "electrical discharge" takes place that can amount to a pretty high voltage spark-gap-jump. Pushing the red spark button on your gas grill sends that piezoelectric discharge up a well-insulated wire and out to a ceramically encased "spark plug" that is a few millimeters away from the gas discharge ports on the burner unit. Crunching on wintergreen mints in a dark room, while watching yourself in a mirror, with your mouth open, demonstrates this form of energy discharge as well. The novelty of the mint cake posting prior to this post shows that becoming "crystallized - frozen" at -5°C is a great example of how the characteristics of a compound can be affected in order to release energy based changes like temperature.
Action Lab never fails to impress us.
As a geology enthusiast I want to die after watching that video
they failed with this video. science hats to investigate anything that contradicts thier pre-conceived notions.
That is because you are dumb. Don't get me wrong, I am impressed when he is right. But he is not right about this video.
Imagine if everyone was as excited as you are about science? This world would be an awesome place 🙂
*COMPLICIT TO EVIL; HIGHLY CORRUPTIBLE PERSONALITY TYPES* I DESPISE ISFP and 'ESFP' personality types! They are just as evil as narcissits! They are narcissit-friendly and have little control over their pointless mind - especially at the worst possible time! ESFP tend to be unapologetically stubborn-anything to avoid getting "upset" despite ALWAYS being 'emotionally-disturbed' (secretly; malicious-emotions is hidden just beneath the surface). They both unconsciously believe that other people exist to serve and be consumed by them-like a drug. All to balance the unstable chemicals in their brain responsible for emotions. The [ISFP] 'secrecy'/suspicious, introverted behaviour makes them try to remain convert - this manifests as a hidden [unintelligent] threat for other people later on (as when spotted and contacted by a narcissit, they will quickly comply as they have little emotional-resiliency and humanity). ISFP/ESFP embody what it means to be 'diabolically-unintelligent'! "Better you than me". A typical closet belief of the former. Worsened by ESFJ psychological-rape. Sad fact, Judas-Iscariot was definitely one of them (ISFP). His little humanity and small intelligence, resulted in the diabolical imbecile intentionally 'throwing Jesus under the bus' in a "moment of emotional vulnerability" (typical, whiney ISFP excuse) - only to end up regretting what he's done by the time he comes back to what little sanity he initially had. When I psychoanalyse this overgrown-fetus, I realize that he had a covert, malicious-jealousy complex, and was secretly emotionally-disturbed, and highly prone to 'oblivious-codependency' (look it up, that is classic ISFP psychology, which explains how r-tarded they really are. Education only helps them hide how intellectually-immature they really are). If your life was in danger, the more dire the situation is, you'd be better off making sure that the nearby ISFP/ESFP in the group is dead! This will maximize the likelihood of the group success/escape, as the ISFP cannot be trusted! They will likely do something r-tarded at the worst possible moment-getting themselves and everyone else killed (or the ISFP might panic and push a teammate under the bus as the ISFP feared getting sacrificed first- inexcusable, particularly since they ARE the threat, them and other narcissits (ESFJ/ESTJ are synonymous with cluster-b). These r-tards actually empower narcissits, especially during elections and for typically r-tarded reasons/motives). Anyway, ISFP/ESFP have little to no humanity, and they are delusional and have difficulty understanding themselves (which says a lot about their intelligence), i.e. they have difficulty even recognizing their own emotions! Plus they often suppress it (too narcissitic to bother processing it). They really are walking, overgrown-fetuses- failed human beings! I bet Adam and especially Eve in the Bible were ISFP! They also typically have difficulty recognising evil and are often in relationships with narcissits! And then the ISFP will breed more victims into the toxic, tortuous relationship!
Try using a spinning stick rattle. There might be more sliding motion vs random shaking motion.
Thanks for the demystified view on crystals.
I used a dremel tool and quartz grinding tip on a big chunk of quartz you can see the arc flying around inside the rock!
Someday: "Hey everyone, today I'm going to be opening an inter-dimensional rift into a parallel alien world. That's right, I'm going to see if I can actually trigger an invasion of multidimensional monsters into our reality. First we'll need to synthesize element 115 using this particle accelerator I bought on ebay. Next I'll be using this homemade time-sword to slice through the seams of reality."
Lol
Dr. Freeman...
I for one, think that would make the world better, in a way.
This might be the best idea ive heard of in a long time
Don't you dare lol
This actually confirms a hypothesis. The polarity is something I never considered but makes perfect sense if you factor in resonance frequencies.
Amazing how quartz crystals are used in everyday technology and how they hold frequencies and create light, truly an amazing planet.
Thank you once again for another great video. I Really appreciate you for what you do👍
Hi, great video again ! Perhaps you could glue a big piece of quartz in the bottom of the bottle (+ several free medium-size pieces) ? It seems to me that when you shake the bottle, bits of quartz move "together or as a group" with a rather weak relative speed.
Yeah it seems like the quartz wasn't colliding enough in the video
What a fascinating video. I never knew this about triboluminesence of big quartz crystals. Very Cool!
Just did this with a couple from my collection for my boy and his buddy that is spending the night. We loved it! Thanks!
I had some of these as a kid 25 years ago but never knew what they were called but did know they lit up just never knew why soo thank you.
I found this channel way back when you did your first hydraulic press video. I'd love to see the series come back.
You can also see triboluminescence light by chewing on Wintergreen Lifesaver mints while looking at a mirror in a dark room!😊
@@jimdavis3957 then you'd like my channel
Thank you. For many years I have wondered about the luminescence from tape... Now I know.
!!OMG!! THANK YOU! For finally answering a question I've had for years. Breathe Right Nasal Strips are sealed like bandaids and glow *bright* with tribal luminescence when you open them at night. It is unbelievably satisfying to have a random curiosity you only think about on the edge of sleep answered.
Nah, Tribal Luminescence is only when it's in the rattle... otherwise it's just triboluminescence.
You can do this with any translucent river rocks.. also would have been cool to see the press in the dark
One of the things I love collecting crystals of many kinds and especially quartz because of that lighting effect! c:
Petroleum quartz is uv reactive
Also would love to see a follow up on this about why packing tap releases x-rays.
Really cool! Thank you for a very informative video.
Very interesting. Reminds of childhood experiences. We have a lot of it here in India (some specific pockets)
I like how you upload so regularly
I would think if you had a smaller container it would light up better! Definitely something I wanna try after watching!!
Happy 4 million subs my guy :)
Oh, should have done the press breaking in the dark!
Thank you for the video! ☺♥
fascinating. Thank you for this. I'm a nerd for minerals. Much luv.
I was camping on a mountain called cadair Idris that was an old volcano and someone told me on the way up not to mind the lights. I got up in the night and the entire valley was lighting up like that. It looked like lightening but was silent and moved randomly. I thought it might be triboluminescense
That's in Wales?
@@Eyes0penNoFear yep
Look up the "brown mountain lights", much more similar phenomenon.
The hydraulic press in the dark would have been interesting to see
This was the coolest and my mind is so blown! I cant wait to try this!
Man man man the way you destruct that crystal… just wreckless..
I got worried this was a flat earther trying to prove cold moon light... Then I saw the channel name and was relieved! Great video!
Lol your irrational fear of flat Earth is telling.
@@justtime6736 Incorrect, but I can see why you would have to say that I’m afraid of something that doesn’t exist because I don’t agree with it, it’s all flerfs can do, it’s part of their ignorant narrative.
@@justtime6736 you gotta remove the Pepe pfp it’s a give away
What would happen if you attach a powerful piezoelectric transducer, like from an ultrasonic cleaner, directly to one of the large crystals? Enough power to light it up?
Wot
Epic, glad to see your uploading more often.
bro I watch KZhead instead of tv and I've learned the coolest stuff by far, off your channel. you are indeed, da man.
Wow Indians must been very smart to use hydraulic press to break quartz.
We still are.
Congratulations for 4 Million subscribers and also Thanks for reminding those hydraulic press days
@Don't Read My Profile Photo 🤡🤡🤡
I had those types of crystals as a kid. So fascinating
Dude thank you for this video is so amazing!
You should have turned the lights off when you crushed it. Missed opportunity!
*Quartz Crystal* -An Ancient Artifact that prevents Action Lab from turning into Nile Red.
This guy some how is simple but produces amazing videos that teaches something.
I am very interested for this episode. Request more episode about quartz crystal. Thanks.
Crystals as tools for healing and growth are not a scam. Surprised by your close-mindedness in this regard. Spoken like a true scientist!
Thank you I was wondering who was going to comment on this. He said they sell them as a scam because he doesn’t know that quartz is actually a energy crystal he thinks people are selling it as a fake energy crystal
You get a strong "electricity smell" when rubbing quartz together, presumably from electrons being stripped from O2 atoms causing them to clump into O3.
I believe the term "electricity smell" is defined as the smell of ozone.
@@xxdanieixx2801 If you start smelling ozone you should probably stop
I've opened bandaids in the dark and saw that glow! I thought it was so cool!
This channel is highly underrated
So the light comes from a spark jumping across the air space, would it be possible to build a crystal circuit attached to a battery that emits a constant "cold" light? If possible, it would make a good dim but very energy efficient light source.
Piezoelectric gas grill and cigarette lighters do this by making a spark when a crystal is struck, but they use a ceramic that produces a higher voltage than quartz. It just sparks once with each hit.
If I was a flat earther I'd be calling it out as fake and cgi 😂🤣😂🤣 Amazing video 👍
xD
Not really. You would claim that the moon is made out of quartz and somehow is rubbing against itself. (There are flat earthers out there who believe the moon gives of cold light )
I enjoyed this very much thank you.
I have mentioned about doing this creates light as I have rubbed my crystals together in the past to do this. Also a brighter light can be made if the crystal are cut smooth and polished on there rub together sides.😇
Super! Thank you very much!
Thanks!
I don’t know if these the same kind of crystals I had in my memory but when I was a kid, I’d go find these crystals near a lake with a bunch of rocks. When I rub it together there’s a spark. I don’t remember ever starting a fire with them but it’s cool.
Ppl like this can turn fantasy into reality.. great minds have no Limits
I knew it, with the mints. Good stuff!
Just tried this!👌✨
I remember always being on the hunt for the whitest quartz pebbles I could see when I was a kid. That smell they emitted as they gave off that orange spark when I banged them together in the dark is ingrained in my brain haha
Me too, found out later in life it is arsenic, good to remember that one.
Arsenic will release a garlicky odor when struck.
@@Time-Trvlr the ones I found gave off a spicy burnt smell, I would have said it's traces of sulfur. Or it could be arsenic like you said, probably depends on where you got the stones from
I seen this on Steve Mould. I had forgot about it &... I had water bottles in the freezer. I went into my kitchen without turning on the light & grabbed one of my frozen waters. I wanted to check how frozen it was so I squeezed it. It had about a half inch of ice around the outside & the inside was still liquid. When I squeezed it it would flash blue. My mind was blown lol. I kept squeezing it until all the ice was broken up & mixed with the water.
The ice might have been just a quarter inch thick & not a half in.
Thanks for sharing this
Thank you
Okay thats crazy. Loved watching that.
I can imagine a crystal disc on a stick with a crystal ball attached by a string to the center. Twirling the stick will cause continuous friction and create some nice luminescence
0:53 As a small child, I did this with the quartz I found in the clay.
Crystals can be used to create cold light through a phenomenon called triboluminescence. When crystals are rubbed, impacted, or broken, they release a flash of light without producing heat. This is because the energy of friction, impact, or breakage triggers the separation and reunification of static electrical charges within the crystal, resulting in the emission of light.
Great episode 👍🏼
i imagine people going to the gravel bars of creeks and finding smoothed quartz stones of just the right size when, at night, they can test a handful. perhaps just 3-5 about the size of those steel balls that spark when struck together...
This gives me an idea for yet another hand crank lamp