FLUORESCENCE AND PHOSPHORESCENCE

WHAT ARE FLUORESCENCE AND PHOSPHORESCENCE? HOW DO THEY WORK?

This activity was presented as part of the Optics Magic @Home series of webinars, hosted by OSA, the Optical Society. Spanish translations are not available for this lesson.

MATERIALS

Activity 1 – Fluorescence

• An ultraviolet light. This can be a keychain UV-LED, or a UV-LED flashlight or a currency checker. A 405 nm violet laser pointer works too.
• Some materials to check: try laundry detergent, olive oil, soy sauce (or other fermented liquid), neon markers or even clothing, wet tea leaves, and tonic water- be creative!

Activity 2 – Phosphorescence

• The UV light from Activity 1
• A red LED light (laser pointer, keychain, finger light, etc). Other color LEDs can be used as well (including white)
• Glow in the dark material- a toy, stickers, paper, anything that continues to glow once light is removed

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS AND TEACHER NOTES