Sunday, December 1, 2013

How to Get the Most Out of Your Black Light

As with any tool, you'll get more from your blacklight if you understand the general principles of how it works. Blacklight, or ultraviolet light, differs only slightly from the ordinary lights in your home and office. The only difference between ordinary lamps and a black light is the wave length of light they produce. This chapter will briefly touch on the principles of black light.Principles of black lightAll light is categorized by its wavelength. Ultraviolet light, most commonly called black light, refers to a range of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum between 180 and 380 nanometers (nm). Black light is further sub-divided between short wave, 180-280nm; medium wave, 280-320nm; and long wave, 320-380nm.Some of the uses of short wave blacklight include identifying gemstones and minerals, inspecting stamps and art work for fraud and authenticity and sanitizing and deodorizing. Long wave black light is used to inspect a wide variety of antiques, collectibles and artwork for authenticity and repairs; detecting pet stains, body fluids and to locate and track many pests; and illuminate invisible inks and powders used in crowd control, prevent merchandise switching, anti-theft measures and other uses which require hidden or invisible layout lines, symbols or codes.All black light is invisible to humans because blacklight wavelengths are undetectable by the human eye. So what good is an invisible light? What makes black light useful is the phenomenon of fluorescence.Fluorescence is the conversion of invisible blacklight wavelengths, or energy, to wavelengths of light visible the human eye. Although invisible black light is responsible for producing fluorescence, it's important to keep in mind that fluorescence is white, or visible light, not blacklight.Here's a brief description of how invisible blacklight produces visible light. As you know, atoms have a center called a nucleus surrounded by electrons which circle, or orbit, the nucleus. Electrons stay in the same orbit as long as they maintain the same level of energy. If an electron loses energy, it drops into a lower orbit towards the nucleus.If an electron gains energy, it moves into a higher orbit out away from the nucleus. You might think of this process as a rocket orbiting the earth: if the rocket slows, as electrons absorb invisible energy from black light, they leave their original orbit, and move into higher, or outer orbit.As electrons rise into higher orbits they force electrons with less energy out of their original orbit. These electrons, with less energy drop down into a lower orbit. As these electrons move down, they release some of their energy, in the form of visible light or fluorescence.When you examine an object with a blacklight, you are bombarding the atoms of the item with invisible black light energy (ultraviolet radiation). As electrons absorb the invisible blacklight energy, they move into a higher orbit. When an electron moves into a higher orbit, a hole is created in its original orbit. An electron from somewhere in the outer orbit drops down to fill this empty hole. As the electron drops down to the lower orbit, it gives up a certain amount of energy as visible light. This process of converting invisible light energy into visible light is called fluorescence.This is where the name "fluorescent" lighting was taken. Inside the everyday fluorescent light you have at your home or office, is electricity, another source of invisible energy. When electricity strikes the coating (phosphors) on the inside of the tube, there is enough fluorescence, or visible light, produced to light entire rooms.



Bill Sharkey is the Publisher of The BlackLight Book bsharke@verizon.net and Webmaster for The BlackLight Shop Please visit these sites for the various uses of ultraviolet.

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