Fluorescent Minerals
Fluorescent Minerals
All minerals have the ability to reflect light. That is what makes them visible to the human eye. Some minerals have an interesting physical property known as “fluorescence”. These minerals have the ability to temporarily absorb a small amount of light and an instant later release a small amount of light of a different wavelength. This change in wavelength causes a temporary color change of the mineral in the eye of a human observer.
Fluorescence in minerals occurs when a specimen is illuminated with specific wavelengths of light. Ultraviolet (UV) light, x-rays and cathode rays are the typical types of light that trigger fluorescence. These types of light have the ability to excite susceptible electrons within the atomic structure of the mineral. These excited electrons temporarily jump up to a higher orbital within the mineral’s atomic structure.
The wavelength of light released from a fluorescent mineral is often distinctly different from the wavelength of the incident light. This produces a visible change in the color of the mineral. This “glow” continues as long as the mineral is illuminated with light of the proper wavelength.
Most minerals do not have a noticeable fluorescence. Only about 15% of minerals have a fluorescence that is visible to people and some specimens of those minerals will not fluoresce.
Most minerals fluoresce a single color. Other minerals have multiple colors of fluorescence. Calcite has been known to fluoresce red, blue, white, pink, green and orange. Some minerals are known to exhibit multiple colors of fluorescence in a single specimen. These can be banded minerals that exhibit several stages of growth from parent solutions with changing compositions. Many minerals fluoresce one color under short-wave UV light and another color under long-wave UV light.