Scotch Tape - The Next Power Source

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bphgravity

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I heard today that using "scotch" tape may expose you to x-rays.

In a tour de force of office supply physics, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that it is possible to produce X-rays by simply unrolling Scotch tape.

Next step: nuclear fusion.

?We?re going to do that,? said Seth J. Putterman, a professor of physics at U.C.L.A. ?I think it will work.?

But first, X-rays.

In the current issue of the journal Nature, Dr. Putterman and his colleagues report that surprisingly fierce flows of electrons were unleashed as the tape was unpeeled and its gooey adhesive snapped free of the surface. The electrical currents, in turn, generated strong, short bursts of X-rays ? each burst, about a billionth of a second long, contained about 300,000 X-ray photons.

?Some kind of microscopic lightning effect,? Dr. Putterman said.

The scientists even demonstrated that the X-rays were bright enough to take an X-ray of a finger.

That does not mean that tape dispensers on office desks are mini X-ray machines. So far, the phenomenon has been observed only when the tape is unpeeled in a vacuum. Something about air ? perhaps moisture ? short-circuits the X-rays.

The work is not unprecedented. In 1939, scientists demonstrated that peeling tape emits visible light ? an easy experiment anyone can conduct in a closet. But visible light photons have only about one-10,000th the energy of an X-ray photon.

Russian scientists reported as far back as 1953 that they had detected X-rays from tape. ?But as far as I can tell, no one ever believed them,? Dr. Putterman said. ?It was a big surprise to discover this deep dark corner of past research.?

All of the experiments were conducted with Scotch tape, manufactured by 3M. The details of what is occurring on the molecular scale to generate high-energy photons are not known, the scientists said, in part because the Scotch tape adhesive remains a trade secret.

Other brands of clear adhesive tapes also gave off X-rays, but with a different spectrum of energies. Duct tape did not produce any X-rays, Dr. Putterman said. The scientists have not yet tested masking tape.

The research opens up the possibility of looking for similar X-ray emissions from composite materials as they fatigue. Such materials, increasingly used in airplanes and automobiles, are stronger and lighter than many metals, but they do not show the visible weaknesses that metals do before breaking.

The tape phenomenon could also lead to simple medical devices using bursts of electrons to destroy tumors. The scientists are looking to patent their ideas.

And finally, there?s the possibility of nuclear fusion. If the energy from the breaking adhesive could be directed away from the electrons to heavy hydrogen ions implanted in modified tape, the ions would accelerate fast enough so that when they collided, they could fuse together and give off energy ? the same process that lights the sun.
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ha. i was reading this on my phone just before logging in. the article i was reading said they were trying to patent this to build and x-ray machine that can be used in 3rd world countries where they don't have electricity. they would power it off the tape. yes, it did say that.
 
I actually went into my closet last night and tried to see if I could produce light. Suprisingly, it worked! It is quite amazing. As you pull the tape off the roll, quite a bit of light is emitted!!!
 
Pierre C Belarge said:
More research that will save the world...:roll:
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Consumer Product Safety once did research on why young children fall of tricycles 1.5 million.

results

#1 Reason They run into things and fall over.
#2 Reason They run over things and fall over.

With 4 kids I could have answered this question for a Buck 3.50.
 
brantmacga said:
ha. i was reading this on my phone just before logging in. the article i was reading said they were trying to patent this to build and x-ray machine that can be used in 3rd world countries where they don't have electricity. they would power it off the tape. yes, it did say that.
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Do they need another roll of tape to run the vaccuum pump. Oh, but then they would need another vaccuum pump for that roll of tape. And another roll of tape for....
 
The light that is emitted from scotch tape comes from a process called Triboluminescence
Basically what you're seeing is sparking resulting from the breaking of crystalline bonds.

If you want to have more fun with this, get some Wint-O-Green life savers, go in your bathroom and turn your lights out. Put one life saver vertically between your teeth, and chew with your lips open.:cool: :D

As far as the x-rays, they only stay around long enough to do anything if they're in a vacuum. Otherwise, they dissipate too quickly.
 
Thanks for the Life Savers Trick.

These make for nice experiments to teach fun aspects of electricity to children and retired people...
 
bphgravity said:
Thanks for the Life Savers Trick.

These make for nice experiments to teach fun aspects of electricity to children and retired people...
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as a child, i much preferred the experiment when the guy from the poco came in and demonstrated what happens when you touch power lines. i like things that go "boom". i probably would've booed you off the stage. :D :D
 
So far, the phenomenon has been observed only when the tape is unpeeled in a vacuum. Something about air ? perhaps moisture ? short-circuits the X-rays.
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What I want to know is, who came up with the idea in the first place that they were going to expend hard to come by research money on an experiment to unroll Scotch tape in a vacuum chamber? Is this something that someone does a lot?

I gotta get out more....
 
Jraef said:
What I want to know is, who came up with the idea in the first place that they were going to expend hard to come by research money on an experiment to unroll Scotch tape in a vacuum chamber? Is this something that someone does a lot?

I gotta get out more....
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Never forget, a properly formatted, easily readable proposal for a poor idea always looks better than a poorly formatted, hardly legible proposal for a brilliant idea.

Just think of how bad it would look if you gave somebody a quote on a slightly used cocktail napkin.:D :roll:
 
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