Need expensive medical x-ray? Make your own by peeling tape!

William Atkins
Thursday, 23 October 2008 19:46

Science - Energy

University of California researchers surprisingly found that when peeling back commonly used adhesive tape the motion between the two surfaces generates electromagnetic radiation in the form of high-energic x-rays. Cool!


The paper “Correlation between nanosecond X-ray flashes and stick–slip friction in peeling tape” by the authors Carlos G. Camara, Juan V. Escobar, Jonathan R. Hird, and Seth J. Putterman appears in the October 23, 2008 issue of the journal Nature.

They are all from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

The optical phenomenon that produces x-rays in adhesive tape is called triboluminescence. It occurs when radiation (such as x-rays) is produced as asymmetrical bonds are broken in a crystal.

Such bonds within crystalline material are broken when the material is rubbed, scratched, peeled, or crushed.

You might have seen it work when Wint-O-Green Life Savers (this website tells you how you can perform the experiment yourself) glow when its methyl salicylate (wintergreen oil) is crushed (when you bite down or hit it with a hammer), and the fluorescence converts ultraviolet (UV) light into blue light.

It now has been found to occur with ordinary friction tape (adhesive tape like the brand name tape called Scotch Tape).

Page two continues with a video of their experiment.