Messing Up the Fluorescence of Tonic Water - in several ways...

How delicate is the fluorescence of tonic water? In this video, I test several ways of affecting the light output of tonic water and try to explain how it all works.
Turns out that the fluorescence of tonic water is a happy, coincidental combination of the right factors for quinine!
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#fluorescence #tonicwater

[@ares395]

As a side effect you made me realize that these double insulated glasses aren't as dumb as I thought. They are always marketed as being used for hot drinks which is dumb in my opinion because that makes it 10x more likely to burn your mouth. If the glass is hot you know it'll also burn your mouth. They are much better for cold drinks.

[@YounesLayachi]

Thunderf00t used them to get a clear view of liquid nitrogen and I was amazed

[@barongerhardt]

Got a box of them for a family member a few years ago. They love them for hot drinks. The glasses ended up being more durable than I expected.

[@Sypher474]

I've owned some for years, and have exclusively used them for cold drinks. I never understood the hot drink only marketing. I'd wager far more cold drinks are consumed overall, and a cold drink that's warmed up is far worse than a hot drink that's cooled down.

[@barongerhardt]

@@Sypher474 The physics actually favor the cooler drink. First evaporation over time will tend to cool the liquid to the dew point. In my house right now, this alone will maintain a drink about half way from room temp to freezing and in a drier environment can be closer to refrigeration temps. If colder still is desired, ice contains a massive amount of cooling power, take it down to freezing, and will act as a buffer for the duration of the consumption. A third issue is that the temperature difference between room temp and a cold drink vs a hot drink is greater for the hot drink. The rate of energy exchange is on the order of the fourth power of that delta. As a separate issue is the comfort of holding an uninsulated container. A thin metal cup full of ice and near freezing water doesn't bother most to pick up and take a sip. A fresh hot chi or coffee is another story and is likely to end up with significant discomfort, possible spills, leading to minor burns. All the above and the smartest thing is to just use insulated containers in all situations.

[@Sol-hm7ol]

I have a set and I love them for any kind of drink though you are right they keep stuff hot for a very long time

[@tungster24]

It's really interesting just how many variables there are that determine a substance's fluorescence. Awesome video!

[@brainiac75]

Exactly! After making this video, I appreciate the fluorescence of tonic water even more. It is so lucky that it happens to be a near perfect environment for quinine fluorescence :) Thanks for the early watch.

[@alexander97]

Could you do a spectrum comparison of common (and not so common) UV sources? I would be interested in the difference between common "black light" UV-Leds and UV discharge lamps. I would also be interested in how lamps for curing gel nails (as LED version and as CFL version) differ from these. They have more of a light blue appearance, but are also supposed to emit UV.

[@photonik-luminescence]

This is really interesting ! Would decreasing the pH repair the fluorescence again ? (From the backing soda one)

[@MadScientist267]

That's what he said 😊

[@TheChipmunk2008]

yes but not back to its original fluorescent level as the baking soda neutralizing the acid in the original would have created a sodium salt! (Sodium citrate in this case).

[@YounesLayachi]

@@TheChipmunk2008 without chloride ions, would that even make a difference ?

[@paranoiia8]

If it light best in acidic ph... Apple juice and vinagee?

[@brainiac75]

Interesting. I am considering making a video in the future where I test quinine more precisely under different pH-values. Just need to purchase a pH-meter for it to make sense... Thanks for the early watch and suggestion!

[@seakultastreasurechest8510]

I don't know of any drinks that fluoresce but I do know that at least some peanut butter will fluoresce, although I am not exactly sure what causes it. It would be amazing to see the effect of your massive 500w UV light on a jar of peanut butter compared to the small 5w UV lights I have used.

[@sakesaurus]

might burn it

[@CrazySprite]

This video is very interesting, I didn't know tonic water was fluorescent!

[@brainiac75]

Thanks, CrazySprite. Well, it is! But it is also surprisingly easy to turn off. Quite a coincidence that tonic water happens to have near perfect conditions for the fluorescence of quinine. More videos to come.

[@septicop]

I love your content! I love how you are introducing me to all new scientific concepts that I never would have found out about otherwise :).

[@brainiac75]

Glad you like it, septicop! Believe it or not, but I learn a lot by making these videos too. Researching deeper into a subject that I usually would. Much more to come!

[@GMCLabs]

Wow! An honor to have my channel name up there with the rest that got it wrong, but in a right way! Never would have guessed table salt would work too! Figured most that guessed salt was bc its one of the few chemical names just about everyone knows.

[@aarongreenfield9038]

My favorite shade of blue because it looks like Cherenkov radiation. Your experiments would make doctor Manhattan proud.

[@sebbes333]

*@Brainiac75* 3:45 What happens if you freeze the tonic water? Will frozen & then melted tonic water behave any different to not-frozen tonic water? (eg. destroyed molecules by freezing?) How will the graph look if you start with a cylinder of frozen tonic water, maybe at -30*C then you continuously heat it up, until almost boiling, and measure the Lux every 10*C ?

[@trulyinfamous]

I realized that you don't do sponsors constantly. It's nice to be able to simply enjoy the content without getting angry at having to sit through or skip an advertisement for something I didn't click the video for, having the flow of the video broken. A simple patreon shout-out is perfectly acceptable for me. I'm not bothered by them most of the time.

[@NiddNetworks]

Love all your experiments... High power UV, super magnets and.....Tonic Water. Thanks for such a brilliant, informative and entertaining channel!

[@Indian_boy2]

Hello bro I am rajanish I need your help I don't know inglish please make Hindi video please

[@jgplayz]

Try Monster or Rockstar energy drinks as they contain high levels of vitamin B which should glow

[@mister-8658]

My question is if you added a chewable vitamin c tablet to the quinine and allowed it to dissolve would that make it fleuresse brighter?

[@LiborTinka]

I work with UV-fluorescent alkaloids harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. The UV fluorescence of harmine depends on pH in such a way it can be used as a narrow-range pH indicator. The three alkaloids differ only by the level of saturation on aromatic ring, yet have very different emission spectra.

[@IIronyy]

So glad I could support your content for this long. Goodbye for now.

[@SC-RGX7]

The Sunday's Gin and Tonic will never be the same again.

[@PushyPawn]

What a monster UV light, what was its original intended purpose?

[@djadventure]

I have never seen a Video from you that was only 19 Seconds Old an has Zero Views. Greetings From Germany

[@brainiac75]

Very, very early indeed DJ Adventure :) Thanks! Greetings back from neighboring Denmark.

[@JustPyroYT]

Another interesting Video! I'm always happy to watch a new video from you :D

[@brainiac75]

Thanks! This video turned out better than I thought when standing in a dark room doing relatively long and repetitive experiments... The magic of editing - cutting down to the essence :) Much more to come, JustPyro.

[@darkknight8139]

Really nice and very interesting video! It is amazing how fluorescence works, and even more amazing that you can find it in the supermarket, if you know what to look for. Massive thanks!

[@azazeldeath]

Been many years since i last drank it. But here in Aus, maybe 13 years ago a nightclub used to have UV lights and would sell a drink mix, spirits of some kind and an energy drink I THINK it was monster. It would heavily glow. Even the bathrooms had UV lights, it was very concerning the first time you drink a lot then go pee at a urinal and have this massively glowing, almost cartoonish glowing pee. But pretty sure it was monster energy drink, might have been V, i do know whatever it was it didnt taste terrible but was not my favourite. But can say 100% certain that it was the energy drink that was causing the glow. Really makes me want to get a safe UV light or laser to make some glowing drinks again, non alchoholic. I already have a safe, and legal cannot stress that enough, small tritium "glow stick" that i plan on mounting in a safe display case on my wall, even though it will be safe i am even considering getting some lead glass for it to be behind.

[@creerbyrge]

The important question is, what does Gin do to it...?

[@omsingharjit]

To makes sure it's pH dependent add acid to check if it florescent back.

[@joraforever9899]

Oh wow, first guess 😁. It was just a hunch 😁

[@bhavikshroff26aug]

Thank you Sir for the mention, it really means alot ☺

[@ilia2178]

Now do pee after taking B vitamins

[@Jimmhead]

Does salt reduce the fluorescence of other chemicals? I tried with the green fluorescent dye in a highlighter and it didn't seem to change at all. I'm not sure what the dye is, possibly fluorescein or pyranine

[@arcanealchemist3190]

at the very least, salt should reduce the fluorescence by simply being an impurity (increased volume of non-fluorescent material in general, diluting the effect). its hard to say for sure beyond that without knowing what mechanism the dyes use to fluoresce. this is complicated by the use of a green highlighter rather than a yellow one! since pretty much every yellow highlighter uses pyranine, and only pyranine as its fluorescence source. im fairly certain green would use a mixture of pyranine and whatever blue fluorescent chemical they use, but i know a lot less about that, blue fluorescent dyes seem really complicated! pyranine changes its fluorescent properties based on pH similarly to quinine, except at a different and wider range of pH values, making it a potential choice for measuring the pH of solutions. when in an aqueous solution along with salts, i think it exhibits some sort of quenching still, but im not a chemist and all the stuff i could find online simply mentioned that salt interferes with the pH readings when in solution with pyranine. from what i read, it always made the pyranine appear MORE acidic than it should, which means it was quenching, since more acidic = less bright with pyranine. but i might be interpreting that wrong, im pretty bad at chemistry. im basing this primarily off of the free portions of this paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1010603008001767 which says that the presence of salts in their solutions decreased the apparent pKa of the pyranine. with a lower pKa meaning more acidic, that should mean the pyranine fluoresced less. but later, they say that the presence of salts was making the solution overall appear more basic. the only way ive been able to reconcile these claims in my head is that somewhere in the paper, theyre subtracting the apparent pKa of the pyranine from the solution, and since that pKa reading is more acidic than it should be, the remaining solution is appearing less acidic, or more basic than it should be. which makes sense, when using pyranine to measure the acidity of something, you want to be able to mathematically eliminate the added dye from your solution, since you likely dyed a sample of a larger solution and dont want the pyranine included in your final result. as for the blue dye, thats where my research kind of got stuck. fluorescent blue dye in markers seems to be usually a mixture of non fluorescent dyes and brightening compounds. essentially "stealing" the fluorescence of other compounds and reflecting them into the blue spectrum. i assume that means they'd just add non-flourescent dyes to yellow dyes to make it green, but there is a lot less information on that, at least that i could find easily. blue fluorescent compounds are generally not as affective at converting ultraviolet light in to blue light anyways. since we are taking the high energy state of ultraviolet light, and moving it the least far down into lower energy color in comparison to the other dyes.

[@lessthan8]

Check out peanut butter!

[@kaitlyn__L]

As to the call to action at the end, I've noticed Irn Bru fluoresces a really nice bright but deep orange. It's not a pale, yellow-y orange like you often see from high-vis vests or even orange highlighters. It's a deep vivid almost red kind of orange, a lot like you get some certain just-past-red laser diodes. The only other thing I've seen fluoresce the same hue as Irn Bru is orange acrylic sheeting! (And an 80s Rubik's cube, modern ones don't do it)

[@kevincomerford2242]

Much like you you cooled the tonic water to achieve higher luminance, are there other ways to increase the intensity of the fluorescence?

[@geirmyrvagnes8718]

I was waiting for him to lower the pH to get some more out of it. Getting less is less fun.

[@alxndrassies]

The gold standard in safety warnings at the beginning of videos. They should make this mandatory for all!

[@lordsqueak]

Hangon,, what if you freeze the tonic water solid? I assume it's not going to make much difference, being almost the same temperature as cold water. But it might have some other effect?

[@riippumatonlinja]

If higher ph will destroy luminicity, then how is opposite? Give it extra ph boost with stronger acid to maximise fluorescence?

[@dread_rat]

Decoctions of Peganum harmala (Syrian rue) and Banisteriopsis caapi (yage/ayahuasca vine) have a strong fluorescence (due to the fluorescent indole alkaloids harmine and harmaline).

[@Lampe2020]

I actually tried to guess but didn't write a comment because I had no idea what it was that stopped the fluorescence of the quinine…

[@sykoteddy]

I'm a sucker for Monster Energy Drinks and noticed that my urine often seemed to be fluorescent. I haven't tried it with a UV lamp but I think I got it confirmed, but don't remember what chemical it was. Could it be Taurin, Niacin or Riboflavin?

[@rocketboysmc]

yay i got it right 8:20

[@GQuack]

I'm so glad I guessed right!! This was an interesting video, even then! Quinine really is an interesting chemical. I can't wait to see your next video!

[@brainiac75]

You sure did, GQuack! I have lost count of how many of my videos include clips with quinine x) Probably more to come in the future. It is a chemical that keeps on giving for me. Just wish, I liked the taste of it... More videos to come!

[@TheChipmunk2008]

@@brainiac75it's also very useful for my mother, she drinks it to prevent leg cramps

[@Nobe_Oddy]

here in America we have a clothes washing detergent called 'Tide' and it too glows under UV light.....it doesn't work very well as a paint to make your walls glow tho... lol me and my friends had a VERY STUPID idea after I got my first 'blacklight' (the nick-name for UV lights here in the States) and soap is not good for your walls lol you can't paint over it without washing your walls first... 🤦‍♂🤦‍♂ And it tends to slide down the wall and into your carpet after a few days too... but it still glows!! LMAO

[@vincejohnm]

You had a missed an opportunity to show how viscosity affects fluorescence output. Mix in varying amounts of glycerol and plot the change in light output. And since you’ve got the tools, I’ve got a wishlist for fluorescence videos. 1. I’d love to see you demonstrate the difference between fluorescence and Raman scattering. For the people. 2. I’ve never seen a FRET demo on KZbin. Fascinating technique that would benefit from being presented with your production quality. 3. Demonstrate the heavy atom effect with dye analogs. Would be a great primer for discussing fluorescence vs phosphorescence. Great video.

[@VEC7ORlt]

Find out after important message - sponsorblock - I don't think I will.

[@tranquoclan5043]

How about trying to redo the process, if the Cl quenches the fluorescence, what happen if remove Cl in the solution (eg: using AgNO3 to precipitate Cl out)? What happen with the lux when quinine is saturated?

[@kikakuvr4198]

Stretching the definition of "drink," peanut butter has a nice green glow when illuminated with UV light. Oh! Peanut butter milk shakes! Especially since the fluorescence persists for longer when the peanut butter is cold...🤓

[@maxlyth]

Hi Brian. Another good video but can I ask you where you got your spectrometer from? I'm looking for something similar that has a fibre input and connects to a laptop by USB. Any advice would be appreciated.

[@Madsstuff]

This channel has always been perfection. Thank you for this content. If i remember correctly. Shweps Lemonade fluoresces

[@rosetta_diabolo]

Which would remove the fluorescence more? Salt or baking soda? Btw, probiotics, curry and collegen powder are fluorescent under uv

[@juststeve5542]

IIRC from my days as the designated driver, orange juice will fluoresce in nightclub UV.

[@meinz]

det må nok have været første jeg har set faxe kondi på youtube

[@brainiac75]

Tror heller ikke jeg har set det før i en video. Og så i en videnskabsvideo ;D Tak for kigget, meinz!

[@JakHart]

Beer has fluorescence, and quite nicely too. (Even black beers!) This is caused by amino acids. Kinda weird, and super cool.

[@Brando56894]

Heh,i just watched the previous one and thought "its probably just sodium bicarbonate due to the way it fizzes" and it looks like i was right! Edit: just watched the rest of the video, damn it haha

[@nekoimouto4639]

would increasing the acidity of the fluid and lowering the temperature below freezing increase the fluorescence even more?

[@ComfyCherry]

yay I guessed right (tho due to this video already being out didn't bother commenting there) at first looking at it it just kinda looked like bicarb and then the fizzing reinforced my guess, my 2nd guess was salt due to the size of some of the clumps. I originally left out the 2nd guess part because it felt like too much then watched further to find out yup salt...

[@PeterMilanovski]

Interesting 🤔 Some marine life has the ability to be flourescent in dark cold salt water....

[@onecrazywheel]

I always thought 💭 Mountain Dew glowed in the dark with a blacklight. I remember that as a kid. What would cause that.

[@jibcot8541]

I was going to say table salt, then you made the reveal, and I was like , ok, then you made the 2nd reveal and I was like YES!

[@agw5425]

Would lemon juice boost the fluorescens and how much at what concentration and at what level of quinine does adding more stop increasing the lux given of? Would quinine strait in lemon juice (or other acidic liquid) be even more fluorescent?

[@MakotoIchinose]

So that's how they made Nuka Cola Quantum glow and drinkable...

[@awetisimgaming7473]

This fluorescence gives me the idea to embed an infrared laser to the bottom of a glass bottle, and make "nuka quantum" from the fallout genre, I'll have to make my own video if I get it made, but either way, love the videos!

[@metern]

What would happen if you freezed the tonic water? Would the light be blinding 🤣 And what about lower the ph?

[@wrigzor]

Why oh Why didn't you put citric acid in it again, to see if it turned back on? thought that would have been abovius last experiment, or see how bright you could get it :)

[@Jawst]

Sainsbury's supermarket in the UK does a cheap mustard that is coloured with turmeric extract and it stains the plastic seal in the lid bright yellow colour identical to a yellow highlighter marker 😋

[@phizc]

Cool that my comment was featured, even though I was incorrect. 😊

[@PsRohrbaugh]

That UV lamp is a monster. What on earth is it's intended purpose? Something industrial?

[@ThunderChunky101]

Used to fascinate me as a kid when my dad was drinking gin and tonic. "the bubbles glow! Can I have one?!" 😂

[@Z0mbieAnt]

Not really a drink, though still save to consume: Extra virgin olive oil should fluoresce red

[@kateonianlaw1127]

I would not say I know of any drinks that fluorescence in UV, but peanut butter, pumpkin seed oil, and toasted sesame seed oil does.

[@SirBoden]

Whitening laundry soap Tends to fluoresce very well

[@12e444]

Monster Energy fluoresces under UV. found that out at a night club.

[@ErikaMahoney]

So any acidic liquid glows in flourencent light too?

[@SynomDroni]

Plum juice or wine will flourece if the fruit wasn't washed with soda. The fluorescent part is on the skin of the fruit. You can also polish it of, it's that tint...

[@johnnewman3221]

could you make a video about that magical ink which is visible only through purple sun glasses

[@dolamskudoiski306]

Mountain Dew can fluoresce a bit, Or- at least it looks brighter than it should in a black-light.

[@noodlelynoodle.]

I have that exact same scale! The only difference is the lid on mine accidentally broke off when I was trying to remove it thinking it was like my old one where the lid doubled as a larger weighing dish lmao

[@JaSon-wc4pn]

I can do science...Me Next video, Biting down on triple X mints to create a Spark

[@johnNJ4024]

Fluorescence of organic molecules is affected very similarly to the three dimensional isomeric structure and degree of activity of protein enzymes in that the pH and concentrations of different salts in the diluent solution greatly affects the active sites of the molecule by changing the behavior of the electrons and where they tend to reside in the molecule.

[@Mikes666]

Ouzo,the Greek spirit also reacts I think?

[@goatingadventures9726]

I did not know that you were using table salt I thought you were using baking soda 😅

[@zackkertzman7709]

I wonder how much of the temperature dependence is due to changes in the density of the solution impacting the quinine concentration. Pure water is most dense at 4°C so the results could be consistent with a concentration change.

[@erezra]

Green fluorescence? Vitamin B2? RedBull?

[@JohnnieHougaardNielsen]

I was "waiting" for you to add acid, to see what (if any) difference that would make 🍋

[@nakfan]

Beautiful blue color…. The right music for this could be Kind of Blue 😉

[@JohnnyX50]

didnt mountain dew fluoress, glow, whatever ? i know it had a day glow bottle. lol

[@AntimatterBeam8954]

I remember quinine having some interesting chemistry when it reacts with an electron donor?

[@XZXSILVEX50]

Fantastic and very professional channel, congratulations

[@TomBoulevard_]

I made it in the video! I was technically right, but bit correct.

[@Pluna-di6vw]

" it certainly quenches the quinine " Ill use that for whenever something hits the spot so well

[@trash_mountain]

After watching the video, I would have to guess that the chemical used to get rid of the fluorescence is salt

[@batchampa]

My guess was either baking soda or salt, but they were just the first ones I thought of and I wasn't sure why I thought of them

[@ExploringNew1]

Commenting so algorithm will recommend this more

[@meloney]

Where did you get your 400 watts UV lamp?

[@mylastaccountgotdeletedtha6936]

A brainiac video without magnets? What?!

[@herauthon]

How much energy can it take in before the substance breaks down - and the effects fade ?

[@dcallan812]

Ah another reason to put ice in the old G&T 😘👌 Very interesting dive into Tonic 2x👍

[@G-Forces]

Anyone else find it kind of creepy how similar in color the florescence is to cherenkov radiation?

[@TheCoilers]

Hi, what type of uv-flashlight do you use? Thx

[@SumUnicus]

That florescent vitamine. Is it the one they used to seak leaks in a heatwater power system in cities?

[@texastank]

you *_need_* to make a low quality meme using a can of tonic water and a small uv led. holy water