What is a Black Light? What are Phosphors?
Wikipedia, Black Light (http://bit.ly/tRIvok)
“Black Light” seems to be an erroneous name because when a black light is turned on in a dark room, everything is bathed in a beautiful purple color. But what you do not see is the ultraviolet radiation that is being emitted. In black lights, the radiation is UVA, ultraviolet A, which is less harmful than UVB, ultraviolet B.
The scorpion shown in the photo appears to be turquoise. This is because the scorpion’s exoskeleton has chemicals, called phosphors.
A phosphor is any substance that emits
visible light in response to some sort of radiation. A phosphor converts the energy in the ultraviolet radiation (UVA) emitted from a black light into visible light.
Phosphors may or may not contain the element, phosphorus.
Physics investigations for middle school and/or high school students. Ideas for developing investigations into a science fair project.