Pickles glow orange-yellow when electricity passes through their salty brine, according to Portland State University electrical engineering professor Josh Méndez. His reported explanation combines intermittent electrical arcs, hydrogen produced by electrolysis, and light emitted by excited sodium. It is a proposed account, not a mechanism established by a detailed peer-reviewed study in the coverage available.
Why do pickles glow when connected to electricity?
The reported explanation involves several linked events, not simply a pickle getting hot. Salty brine carries electricity; electrical heating creates vapor pockets that interrupt the current; electrolysis produces hydrogen; and a spark can ignite that hydrogen. Excited sodium in the brine produces the characteristic orange-yellow light.
Méndez summarized the distinction between heat and ignition to Portland State University: “There is hydrogen involved, but it’s actually not heat that’s igniting it — it’s the spark.”
How the reported mechanism works
Brine carries current and forms vapor pockets
The pickle’s salty liquid conducts electricity. As current heats the brine, some liquid boils and forms gas pockets. These pockets disrupt the electrical path; as they collapse and brine moves back toward an electrode, the changing contact can produce intermittent arcs. Arcing helps explain the sparks, but on its own it is not the full explanation for the glow.
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Electrolysis produces hydrogen
Electrical action also splits water in the brine, producing hydrogen. In Méndez’s account, an electrical spark ignites the hydrogen; heat alone is not the ignition source. The vapor-pocket process and hydrogen production are complementary parts of the explanation, rather than competing answers.
Excited sodium produces the orange-yellow light
The color is attributed to sodium in the brine. When sodium is excited, it emits the characteristic orange light. Méndez told Portland State: “You’re exciting sodium ions, which produce that characteristic orange glow.”
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What the explanation accounts for—and what remains unclear
| Part of the explanation | What it helps explain | What remains unclear |
|---|---|---|
| Vapor pockets and electrical arcs | Why the electrical discharge can be intermittent. | Arcing alone does not account for the full reported mechanism or establish why the light appears at one end. |
| Electrolysis, hydrogen, and a spark | How combustible hydrogen is produced and, in the reported account, ignited. | The reviewed reporting does not conclusively explain why only one end glows. |
| Excited sodium | Why the emitted light is orange-yellow. | The reviewed reporting does not give a detailed experimental dataset establishing the full mechanism. |
The single glowing end is still an open question in the reviewed accounts. They suggest that uneven hydrogen production or an uneven distribution of salt water could contribute, but neither explanation is established as the answer.
How strong is the evidence?
Portland State’s September 30, 2026, account says Méndez had burned more than 100 pickles while investigating the phenomenon. The news story does not provide a detailed sample description, experimental protocol, measurements, or uncertainty estimates, so that figure should not be mistaken for a published laboratory dataset.
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Portland State’s Electrical & Computer Engineering Research listing records a 2025 conference presentation by Benjamin Crall and Joshua Méndez Harper titled “Shining light on glowing pickles.” The listing establishes that a presentation was given; it does not provide an abstract or results. The reviewed institutional coverage does not establish that the explanation has been published as a peer-reviewed paper.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Should you try to make a pickle glow?
No. The demonstration involves mains electricity, which can cause severe injury or death. ScienceAlert explicitly warns readers not to try it at home; understanding the reported explanation does not require attempting the experiment.
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