UV Reactive paint ('n' such) question

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csw3190

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This is a pretty easy question to answer (i think), but i just don't know the answer. Is UV reactive paint and things just like glow in the dark? I've seen like infinite things with this coating and are always shown w/a black background and seem to b glowing. JW.
 
From my knowledge, I feel very confident that UV reactive paint is the kind that lights up a lot when shone under a blacklight, but I am very sure that it doesn't glow in the dark. But yeah, UV reactive paint would definately be bright and purdy under a blacklight, but as soon as the light is turned off it's dark again.

That is my understanding.
 
you know magic ink that you can only see under a black light...bascially the same thing...when you put the UV paint on your parts you cant see it...but when you use cold cathodes or black lights in your computer...it will light up and and be somewhat bright...it looks good also. Also it does not glow in the dark...sry dude
 
UV Reactive paint is nothing special. It is the genius behind the design of Black Lights that is interesting.

Black lights look just like normal fluorescent lamps or incandescent light bulbs, but they do something completely different. Switch one on, and white clothes, teeth and various other things glow in the dark, while the bulb itself only emits faint purple light.

The conventional black light design is just a fluorescent lamp with a couple of important modifications. Fluorescent lamps generate light by passing electricity through a tube filled with inert gas and a small amount of mercury.

When energized, mercury atoms emit energy in the form of light photons. They emit some visible light photons, but mostly they emit photons in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range. UV light waves are too short for us to see -- they are completely invisible -- so fluorescent lamps have to convert this energy into visible light. They do this with a phosphor coating around the outside of the tube.

Phosphors are substances that give off light -- or fluoresce -- when they are exposed to light. When a photon hits a phosphor atom, one of the phosphor's electrons jumps to a higher energy level, causing the atom to vibrate and create heat. When the electron falls back to its normal level, it releases energy in the form of another photon. This photon has less energy than the original photon, because some energy was lost as heat. In a fluorescent lamp, the emitted light is in the visible spectrum -- the phosphor gives off white light we can see.

The "Black Coating" of Black Lights absorb the harmful shortwave UV rays B and C. The "black" glass tube itself blocks most visible light, so in the end only benign long-wave UV-A light and some blue and violet visible light pass through.

All in all it is the Phosphors within the UV Reactive Paint that reacts with the UV-A rays and emit a glow of purple.
 
Let me put it simple for you:

In regular lighting you cannot see UV paint. [ex. If you took red UV paint and sprayed it on a sheet of metal, you could not see it in plain lightiong.]

In UV lighting [aka. blacklight] the paint shows up perfectly [just as UV fans/cables do.]

Hope this helps.

Remember, UV paint is just like UV fans/cables.
 
Be careful with the uv cathodes, I mounted one too close to my MB; when I started my computer--nothin happened, all i got was a flashing curser... no splash screen nothin'

I feared the worst, i figured i must not have been grounded properly and fried the MB. I messed with the box for a half an hour before I tried turning the UV.
It started right up, no problem. I don't know what caused it, but moving it 4 inches further away from the MB made all the differece.
 
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