Fluorescent minerals are a very interesting and beautiful thing in this world. This post is meant to educate people about both the stones and differant forms of luminescence and light. If you have no interest in learning then do not read this and don't bother with "What's with the lecture?" comments. Though I urge you to read it because it is very interesting. After all I wrote this for YOU.

This display here has had NOTHING added to it. The colors you see are not from paint, chemicals or anything of the like. This is an all natural reaction that some rocks have when exposed to UV light. This is a form of luminescence known as fluorescence. Now there are many forms of luminescence and it is easy to get them mixed up which I will go into here in a moment.

Somewhere over 500 minerals are known to fluoresce visibly. And what is odd is most minerals will not fluoresce when they are pure and need a mixture of other minerals to be JUST right for it to light up like this. Such as the fine red and green chunks of calcite in the corner there. You see to get that nice red color it needed just the right mixture of manganese and lead. There are however some minerals that are known as "self activated" minerals. This includes Scheelite which is an important ore needed in the producion of tungsten. Common minerals to fluoresce are scheelite,sodalite, powellite,adamite, apophyllite, aragonite, calcite, quartz, opal and willemite. Several of which are in this display.


Fun fact about scheelite is a good example of how fluorescence is used not only just because it is pretty to look at but to identify minerals. I even happened to talk to a scheelite miner who was amazed how much I knew about it lol. Scheelite when hit with UV light will glow a light blue color when it is pure since it is one of the aforementioned "self activated" minerals. However when it has amounts of molybdenum in it the ore will glow a sort of greenish yellow to white color which helps figure out the value of an ore find.


As the story goes fluorescent minerals were discovered on accident by miners whos machines every now and then would give off a tiny amount of UV light and they noticed out in the darkness various colors appearing for a moment. Puzzled they investigated further.


Now about luminescence. There are several differant kinds of luminescence in the world and trust me you look like a fool if you mix them up. I knew someone who kept saying these stones were "phosphorescent" which is wrong. So here is a short explaination of the various kinds and on light. Light is a form of energy. And in order to create light some form of energy must be supplied.

Incandescence: A form of light that comes from heat energy. Like for instance a space heater, a light bulb, the sun and the stars are all lit by incandescence. When you give something enough energy in the form of heat it begins to glow.

Luminescence: Is a cold light that comes from other sources of energy. Some form of energy source will knock an electron atom out of its ground or lowest energy state into a higher energy state. So then in order give back its energy in the form of light to return to its normal ground state. All types below here are subtypse of this.

Fluorescence: HERE is the imortant one for this discussion. THIS is why these rocks glow the colors they do. Fluorescence is when something gives off light when exposed to UV light. You may be familiar with this from black lights and the effects they have on some things. I will explain UV light more in another post some day soon. That is a story for another day.

Photoluminescence: occurs when energy is provided by any form electromagnetic radiation such as light. Unlike fluorescence which is specifically from UV rays.

Chemiluminescence: Is from energy given off by a chemical reaction. That's right you raver kids out there. You know it as GLOW STICKS!
Bioluminescence: is a form of chemiluminescence that a living thing creates in it's body. Such as fireflys and many creatures that live deep in the ocean.


Radioluminescence: You know that stereotypical green glow of nucklear power that you see in cartoons? Well it is true and infact old glow in the dark paints used to have radioactive stuff in it and a radioluminescent material. See the connection? Radioactive-Radioluminescence.


Phosphorescence: Phosphorescence is what happens when the electron that is giving off energy in the form of light (you should already be familiar with this if you were paying attention) gets stuck in its high energy state. This means it will either slowly release its energy untill it is back to normal or it will remain trapped untill some form of trigger frees it. Some minerals such as that big purple one in the back are not only fluorescent but phosphorescent as well and will still glow after the black light is no longer shining on it. Now you know why light seems to power glow in the dark things for a while and then they slowly grow dull. Thankfully glow in the dark items have come a long way unlike their radioactive cousins phosphorescent glow in the dark items are safe.

Triboluminescence: Is causes by some form of physical action. Like did you know that if you strike quartz pebbles together in the dark they will sometimes give off light?

And last but not least Electroluminescence: This is caused by an electric current such as lighting flashes, neon lights, and the aurora borealis. Also cathodoluminescence is a form of electroluminescence caused by electron beams; this is how your tv works. And by the way, DO NOT confuse this with how light bulbs work. Light bulbs glow because of HEAT as I told you above.


I spent two whole days sitting in a dark room teaching people about this display and it sickened me that the people that hosted it before me kept calling it the wrong things and had no idea HOW it worked...So I feel the need to educate the pubic about these rocks in the proper manner. And btw this is not my display I mearly was the tour guide for it durring the convention I helped host and the owner wishes to help educate young folk about minerals so it's ok I post pics of it anyway.



So friends I have decided I should make some educational posts. I feel it is a good idea to share some of my knowledge with others to not only show people some nifty things but to mayhaps teach someone something new. It has become part of my nature to try and teach and of course it is the goals of those around me. I by no means claim to be an expert in any field nor do I think I am a very skilled writer or teacher. I hope you enjoyed the picture and my lecture. Please tell me what you thought of this post and if you want to see more like this.