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How Many Types Of Black Lights Are There?
Home » Gadgets » Black Lights » How Many Types Of Black Lights Are There?There are actually two different types of black lights, but they work basically the same way.
A tube black light is basically a fluorescent lamp with a different sort of phosphor coating. The coating absorbs harmful short wave UV-B and UV-C light and emits UV-A light. The black glass tube itself blocks most of the visible light, so in the end only benign long-wave UV-A light and some blue and violet visible light pass through.
An incandescent black light bulb is similar to a normal household light bulb, but it uses light filters to absorb the light from the heated filament. It absorbs everything except the infrared and UV-A light and some visible light.
In both of these light designs, the emitted UV light reacts with various external phosphors in exactly the same way as the UV light inside a fluorescent lamp reacts with the phosphor coating. The external phosphors glow as long as the UV light is shining on them.
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