BobV
New member
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2009
- Messages
- 831
Fluorescence or phosphorescence is a property, and "phosphorous" is not the only substance that does it. When UV hits the material, the electrons absorb the light energy and get "excited," meaning they temporarily jump up to higher energy states (sort of like higher orbits) around the nucleus of each atom. When the effect wears off, the electrons go back to their normal energy states and in the process they give off a packet of energy in the form of light - at a different wavelength than the light that hit it in the first place. So you can hit it with light that's not visible and it might give off light that is visible - so it glows.
So much of what I remember from chemistry. So does anyone know what it is that's in the lacquer that has the chemical property of phosphorescence?
That's not to mention the difference involved in shining purple light on the thing rather than all the colors in white light.
So much of what I remember from chemistry. So does anyone know what it is that's in the lacquer that has the chemical property of phosphorescence?
That's not to mention the difference involved in shining purple light on the thing rather than all the colors in white light.
Last edited: