Explains mineral fluorescence, the difference between shortwave and longwave ultraviolet, and the eye-and-skin precautions every demonstrator should take. Includes classic responders such as calcite, willemite, fluorite, and scheelite.
Building a demonstration kit
Start with dependable responders — fluorite, calcite, willemite, scheelite — and label each with its activating wavelength, since a shortwave-only mineral that stays dark under a longwave lamp disappoints audiences and misleads beginners. Every public demonstration runs under the UV lamp safety standard; the glow is harmless, the lamp is not.