A sample of a substance containing methylsalicylate that can exhibit tribroluminescence?

Question

It's for a scavneger hunt. I need help.

oh..yeah..lol

anyway...what are wintergreen lifesavers and where do i get them?

Answer 1

Get some Wintergreen lifesavers.

(P.S. - this really belongs in the Chemistry group, not the Astronomy group)

Answer 2

Adverse effect of topical methylsalicylate ointment on warfarin anticoagulation: an unrecognized potential hazard
AS Yip, WH Chow, YT Tai and KL Cheung
Department of Medicine, Grantham Hospital, Aberdeen, Hong Kong.

The adverse effect of topical methylsalicylate ointment on warfarin anticoagulation is studied in 11 patients. All patients had an abnormally elevated international normalized ratio after significant usage of topical methylsalicylate ointment as obvious from both the clinical history and a positive blood level of salicylate. Out of the 11 patients, 3 had bleeding manifestation; 2 with bruises and 1 with gastrointestinal bleeding. It is concluded that topical methylsalicylate ointment should be prescribed with care to patients on warfarin and excessive usage is to be avoided since potentially dangerous drug interaction could occur.

and/or

Triboluminescence is an optical phenomenon in which light is generated via the breaking of asymmetrical bonds in a crystal when that material is scratched, crushed, or rubbed. This is a variant of luminescence; the term comes from the Greek tribein (to rub) and the Latin lumen (light).

For example, a diamond may begin to glow while being rubbed. This occasionally happens to diamonds while a facet is being ground or the diamond is being sawn during the cutting process. Diamonds may fluoresce blue or red. Ordinary friction tape (the cloth type — not the shiny electrician's tape) displays a glowing line where the end of the tape is being pulled away from the roll. Also when sugar crystals are crushed, tiny electrical fields are created, separating positive and negative charges that then create sparks while trying to reunite. WintOGreen Lifesavers work especially well for creating such sparks, due to the fact that wintergreen oil (methyl salicylate) is fluorescent and converts ultraviolet light into blue light. Some Band Aid wrappers also glow blueish-green when unwrapped swiftly.

The process by which triboluminescence was discovered was actually an accident. In the late 1790's sugar production began to produce more refined pure sugar crystals. These crystals were formed into a large solid cone for transport and sale. This solid cone of sugar had to be broken into usable chunks using a device known as a sugar nip. Early American scientists and laymen alike began to notice that as sugar was "nipped" in low light, tiny bursts of light were visible. The first recorded observation however, occurred even earlier and is attributed to English scholar Francis Bacon when he wrote in his 1620 "Novum Organum"[1] that "It is well known that all sugar, whether candied or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped in the dark.". The scientist Robert Boyle also reported on some of his work on triboluminescence in 1663.