When they are exposed to radiation (like UVB), phosphors emit a visible light. Phosphors are what we actually see glowing under a black light. Not to be confused with a “party light” which is simply a normal bulb with a colored coating on it…A black light produces UVB light. So you can see how things can get very confusing very quickly when using light’s terms to describe pigments, because they are opposites! But it makes sense that someone would use a bright light term to describe the brightness of their pigment/paint. However, in terms of pigments or paints, white is the ABSENCE of color, and black is the presence of every color. The brightest, whitest light is made up of every color of the spectrum. Pigments and light are often used to help describe each other, but they can get confusing if you don’t understand their origins. And neither is “fluorescent.” Companies just uses the term “neon” to describe the fact that the colors are “really bright like a neon/fluorescent light.”
So neon face paint is obviously not really “neon” literally. So the light you see coming out of a fluorescent tube is actually the light that is given off by that phosphor coating. Well, if that is the case, then why aren’t people in office buildings coming home with sunburn, you ask?! Well, the inside of fluorescent tubes are coated with a phosphor, which is able to soak up the UV rays, fluoresce (glow) when energized, and then emit those rays as visible light. However, fluorescent lights have a mercury vapor inside, that emits UV (ultraviolet) light when ionized, instead of the colored light that neon lights emit. The light itself is colored!įluorescent lights are similar to neon lights in that they have a tube filled with gas with electrodes on each end. Argon creates an electric blue-green color, and so on. The gasses inside the tube vary, since each gas emits a different color light. When a high voltage of electricity is run through the electrodes at each end of the tube, the gas “ionizes,” and the electrons get all excited, in turn freaking out the atoms which emit colored light. They are made of long tubes that are bent into whatever shapes or letters are needed for the sign. Neon is what you see in signage like the “open” sign above. Let’s start with a mini lesson in the source of these terms…lights! So if you are doing a gig where your paints must glow under black light, make sure to ask the right questions before making a purchase. I mean, usually it does in the face and body painting world, but not all products, colors, and industries use these words the same. Or in other words, “does it fluoresce under black light?” A paint labeled with any of these terms doesn’t necessarily mean it reacts to UV light. Most people use these terms simply as a way to say they are “super bright colors.” If you want to make sure a product glows under a black light, the only question you need to ask is if the product itself reacts to UV light (like a black light) by fluorescing phosphors. What is the difference between Neon, UV, Day Glow, Fluorescent…?
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