Blood-red chlorophyll

It’s a simple, scientific way to add some variety to your UV party!

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions

Warn­ing! Only un­der adult su­per­vi­sion.

Equip­ment

  • mor­tar and pes­tle;
  • spinach;
  • cot­ton wool;
  • al­co­hol;
  • fun­nel;
  • glass­es;
  • UV light.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Shred some spinach leaves and grind them with iso­propyl al­co­hol in a mor­tar. Set a fun­nel in a glass, in­sert a piece of cot­ton wool into the fun­nel, and pour the spinach brew through the fun­nel. Add some more al­co­hol and wait for it to drain through the fun­nel. Re­move the fun­nel, turn off the lights, and turn on a UV light over the re­sult­ing liq­uid – it glows scar­let.

Process de­scrip­tion

The cells of spinach leaves con­tain chloro­phyll, which is re­leased when the cells are de­stroyed as the leaves are ground in the mor­tar. Chloro­phyll dis­solves well in al­co­hol, cre­at­ing a green so­lu­tion. When ex­posed to UV light, the chloro­phyll part­ly ab­sorbs it and part­ly ex­udes it as a scar­let glow, lend­ing the so­lu­tion an eerie re­sem­blance to blood.

Cool and safe ex­per­i­ments await you in the MEL Chem­istry sub­scrip­tion.

Try it