Claim:   A mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and Mountain Dew will produce a brilliant glow.

Status:   False.

Examples   [Collected via e-mail, October 2007]

My son told me about this video clip that claims that you can make Mountain Dew Glow with just a little bit of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. The clip is fairly convincing, but the chemistry doesn't make sense to me. Is this a hoax?

Origins:   As purportedly demonstrated in the video clip shown above, mixing small amounts of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide into some Mountain Dew will produce a brilliantly glowing solution. Is this for real, or has someone employed a bit of video flimflammery to send hopeful imitators off on a Fool's Errand?

Since most carbonated sodas have the same basic composition with only relatively slight differences in flavorings (and coloring), it's unlikely Mountain Dew would possess any unique chemical properties that would cause it to fluoresce simply through the introduction of a little baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. But, for the sake of thoroughness, we replicated the process ourselves and filmed the results:


The results claimed in the original video were likely created by the surreptitious introduction of a glow solution into the Mountain Dew bottle, either through off-screen manipulation or via a substitution covered by editing.

Last updated:   9 October 2007

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