Hooked On Science: Glue Stick Sunset

INGREDIENTS

• Full Size Glue Stick
• Flashlight

INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1:  Hold the flashlight close to one end of the full size glue stick.

STEP 2:  Turn on the flashlight and observe. What happens to the light as it travels through the glue stick? Is the glue stick transparent, translucent, or opaque?

EXPLANATION
The light is scattered as it travels through the glue stick. The end of the glue stick closest to the light appears bluish-white. As the light travels through the long glue stick, it appears more yellowish-orange. The same thing happens on Earth. At sunset or sunrise, the light from the sun travels through a greater thickness of the atmosphere, which causes sunsets and sunrises to appear yellow, red, and/or orange. Go to www.hookedonscience.org for more experiments that might get you and your family “Hooked on Science.”