Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
Do you need
volunteer, community service, work, military or court hours?
|
|
Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
|
|
Click here and add this page to your favorites!
|
Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PER-PIG |
|
|
PHOSPHORESCENCE , a name given to a variety of physical phenomena due to different causes, but all consisting in the emission of a pale, more or less ill-defined light, not obviously due to combustion. The word was first used by physicists to describe the property possessed by many substances of them-selves becoming luminous after exposure to light. This property has been noticed from early times. Pliny speaks of various gems which shine with a light of their own, and Albertus Magnus knew that the diamond becomes phosphorescent when moderately heated. But the first discovery of this property which apparently attracted scientific attention seems to have been that of the Bologna stone (barium sulphide), which was discovered by Vincenzo Cascariolo, a cobbler of Bologna, in about 1602. This was followed by the discovery of a number of other sub-stances which become luminous either after exposure to light or on heating, or by attrition, and to which the general name of " phosphori " (from iivr and 4'6 por, bringing light) was given. Among these may be mentioned Homberg's phosphorus (calcium chloride), John Canton's phosphorus (calcium sulphide) and Balduin's phosphorus (calcium nitrate). Of late years it has been found convenient to limit the strict meaning of the word " phosphorescence " to the case of bodies which, after exposure to light, become self-luminous (even if only for a fraction of a second). The general term "luminescence" has been proposed by E. Wiedemann to include all cases in which bodies give off light not due to ignition. This general term embraces several subdivisions. Thus, fluorescence (q.v.) and phosphorescence are included under the same heading, "photoluminescence," being distinguished from each other only by the fact that fluorescent bodies emit their characteristic light only while under the influence of the exciting illumination, while phosphorescent bodies are luminous for an appreciable time after the exciting light is cut off. Phosphorescence, in its restricted meaning as above explained, is most strikingly exhibited by the artificial sulphides of calcium, strontium and barium. If any of these substances is exposed for some time to daylight, or, better, to direct sunlight, or to the light of the electric arc, it will shine for hours in the dark with a soft coloured light. The colour depends not only on the nature of the substance, but also on its physical condition, and'on its temperature during insolation, that is, exposure to the sun's rays. Thus the phosphorescent light emitted by calcium sulphide may be orange-yellow, yellow, green or violet, according to the method of preparation and the materials used. Balmain
As in the case of fluorescent bodies, the light produced by phosphorescent substances consists commonly of rays less refrangible than those of the exciting light. Thus the ultra-violet portion of the spectrum is usually the most efficient in exciting rays belonging to the visible part of the spectrum. V. Klatt and Ph. Lenard (Wied. Ann., 1889, xxxviii. 90), have shown that the phosphorescence of calcium sulphide and other phosphori depends on the presence of minute quantities of other substances, such as copper, bismuth and manganese. The maximum intensity of phosphorescent light is obtained when a certain definite proportion of the impurity is present, and the intensity is diminished if this proportion is increased. It appears likely that when a phosphorescent body is exposed to light, the energy of the light is stored up in some kind of strain energy, and that the phosphorescent light is given out during a more or less slow recovery from this state of strain. Klatt and Lenard have shown that the sulphides of the alkaline earths lose the property of phosphorescing when subjected to heavy pressure. Many fluorescent solutions become briefly phosphorescent when rendered solid by gelatin. When the duration of phosphorescence is brief, some mechanical device becomes necessary to detect it. The earliest and best-known instrument for this purpose is Becquerel's phosphoroscope. It consists essentially of a shallow drum, in whose ends two eccentric holes, exactly opposite one another, are cut. Inside it are fixed two equal metal disks, attached perpendicularly to an axis, and divided into the same number of sectors, the alternate sectors of each being cut out. One of these disks is close to one end of the drum, the other to the opposite end, and the sectors are so arranged that, when the disks are made to rotate, the hole in one end is open while that in the other is closed, and vice versa. If the eye be placed near one hole, and a ray of sunlight be admitted by the other, it is obvious that while the sun shines on an object inside the drum the aperture next the eye is closed, and vice versa. If the disks be made to revolve with great velocity by means of a train of toothed wheels the object will be presented to the eye almost instantly after it has been exposed to sunlight, and these presentations succeed one another so rapidly as to produce a sense of continuous vision. By means of this apparatus we can test with considerable accurac the duration of the phenomenon after the light has been cut oft. For this purpose we require to know merely the number of sectors in the disks and the rate at which they are turned. Thermoluminescence.Some bodies which do not emit light at ordinary temperatures in a dark room begin to do so if they are heated to a temperature below a visible red heat. In the case ofchlorophane, a variety of fluor-spar, the heat of the hand is sufficient. Many yellow diamond, exhibit this form of luminescence. It has been shown, however, that a previous exposure to light is always necessary. Sir James Dewar found that if ammonium platinocyanide, Balmain
Triboluminescence (from rpil3ew, to rub) is luminescence excited by friction, percussion, cleavage or such mechanical means. Calcium chloride, prepared at a red heat, exhibits this property. If sugar is broken in the dark, or two crystals of quartz rubbed together, or a piece of mica cleft, a flash of light is seen, but this is probably of electrical origin. Closely allied to this form of luminescence is crystalloluminescence, a phosphorescent light seen when some substances crystallize from solution or after fusion. This property is exhibited by arsenious acid when crystallizing from solution in hydrochloric acid. Chemiluminescence is the name given to those cases in which chemical action produces light without any great rise of temperature. Phosphorus exposed to moist air in a dark room shines with a soft light due to slow oxidation. Decaying wood and other vegetable substances often exhibit the same property. Electroluminescence is luminescence due to electrical causes. Many gases are phosphorescent for a short time after an electric discharge has been passed through them, and some solid sub-stances, especially diamonds and rubies, are strongly phosphorescent when exposed to kathode rays in a vacuum tube. See generally, Winkelmann, Handbuch der Physik, Bd. vi. (1906); E. Becquerel, La Lumibre (1867). (J. R. C.) Phosphorescence in Zoology .The emission of light by living substance is a widespread occurrence, and is part of the general metabolism by which the potential energy introduced as food is transformed into kinetic energy and appears in the form of movement
lilac
Langley
found that it consisted of a continuous band without separate bright lines. The solar spectrum extends farther both towards the violet and the red ends, but is less intense in the green when equal luminosities are compared.Many of the bacteria of putrefaction are phosphorescent, and the light emitted by dead fish or molluscs or flesh is probably due in every case to the presence of these. Under the miscroscope, the individual bacteria appear as shining points of light. The phosphorescence of decaying wood is due to the presence of the mycelium of Agaricus melleus, and various other species of Agaricus have been found to be luminous. The great displays of phosphorescence in sea-water are usually due to the presence of very large numbers of small luminous organisms, either protozoa or protophyta. Of these Noctiluca miliaris and species of Peridinium and Pyrocystis are the most frequent, the two former near land and the latter in mid-ocean. In higher animals the phosphorescence tends to be limited to special parts of the body which may form elaborate and highly specialized luminous organs. Many coelenterates show the beginning of such localization ; in medusae the whole surface may be luminous, but the light is brighter along the radial canals, in the ovaries, or in the marginal sense-organs. In Pennatulids each polyp has eight luminous bands on the outer surface of the digestive cavity. Some Chaetopods (Chaetopterus and Tomopteris) have luminous organs at the bases of the lateral processes of the body. Pyrosoma, a colonial pelagic ascidian, is responsible for some of the most striking displays of phosphorescence in tropical seas; it has two small patches of cells at the base of each inhalent tube which on stimulation discharge light, and the luminosity has been observed to spread through the colony from the point of irritation. Amongst the Crustacea, many pelagic Copepods are phosphorescent. W. Giesbrecht has shown that the light is produced by a fluid secreted by certain dermal glands. A similar fluid in other Copepods hardens to form a protective case, and it may be that the display of light is in such cases an accidental by-product. Glands in the labrum of the Ostracod Pyrocypris and on the maxillae of the Mysid Gnathophausia similarly produce a luminous secretion. In the Euphausiacea, on the other hand, phosphorescence is produced by elaborate luminous organs which are situated on the thoracic appendages and the abdomen, and which were at first believed to be ocular organs. The deep-sea Decapod Crustaceans belonging to many families are luminous. A. Alcock observed that in some of the deep-sea prawns a luminous secretion was discharged at the bases of the antennae, but in most cases the luminous organs are numerous eye-like structures on the limbs and body. The rock-boring mollusc, Pholas, which Pliny knew to be phosphorescent, has luminous organs along the anterior border of the mantle, two small triangular patches at the entrance of the anterior siphon, and two long parallel cords within the siphon. The cells of these organs have peculiar, granulated contents. W. E. Hoyle, in his presidential address to the Zoological Section of the British Association in 1907, brought together observations on the occurrence of luminous organs in no less than thirty-three species of Cephalopods. In Heteroteuthis, Sepiola and Rossia the light is produced by the secretion of a glandular organ on the ventral side of the body behind the funnel. The secretion glows through the transparent wall
Some centipedes (e.g. Geophilus electricus and G. phosphoreus) are luminous, and, if allowed to crawl over the hand, are stated to leave a luminous trail. Amongst insects, elaborate luminous organs are developed in several cases. The abdomen of a Ceylonese May-fly (Teleganodes) is luminous. The so-called New Zealand " glow-worm " is the larva of the fly Boletophila luminosa, and some gnats have been observed to be luminous, although the suggestion is that in their case disease is present and the light emanates from phosphorescent bacteria. An ant (Orya) and a poduran (Anurophorus) are occasionally luminous. The so-called lantern flies are Homoptera allied to the Cicadas, and the supposed luminous organ is a huge projection of the front of the head, regarding the luminosity of which there is sore doubt. The glow-worms and true fire-flies are beetles. Eggs, larvae and adults are in some cases luminous. The organs consist of a pale transparent superficial layer which gives the light, and a deeper layer which may act as a reflector. They are in close connexion with the tracheae and the light is produced by the oxidation of a substance formed under the influence of the nervous system, and probably some kind of organic fat. In the females the phosphorescence is probably a sexual lure; in the males its function is unknown. Phosphorescent organs known as photophores are characteristic structures in many of the deep-sea Teleostome fishes, and have been developed in widely different families (Stomiatidae, Scopelidae. Halosauridae and Anomalopidae), whilst numerous simple luminous organs have been detected in many species of Selachii. The number, distribution and complexity of the organs vary much in different fish. They are most frequent on the sides and ventral surface of the anterior part of the body and the head, and may extend to the tail. The simpler forms are generally arranged in rows, sometimes metamerically distributed; the more complex organs are larger and less numerous. In Opostomias micrionus there is a large organ on a median barbel hanging down from the chin, others below the eyes, and one on the elongated first ray of the pectoral fin. In Sternoptyx diaphana there is one on the lower jaw, and in many species one or two below the eyes. The luminous organs appear to be specialized skin glands which secrete a fluid that becomes luminous on slow oxidation. The essential part of the organ remains a collection of gland cells, but in the more complex types there are blood vessels and nerves, a protecting membrane, an iris-like diaphragm, a reflector and lens. As the distribution and probably the colour of the light varies with the species, these organs may serve as recognition marks. They may also attract prey, and from their association with the eyes in such a position as to send light downwards and forwards it is probable that in the higher types they are used by the fish actually as lanterns in the dark abysses of the sea. (P. C. M.) End of Article: PHOSPHORESCENCE If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/PER_PIG/PHOSPHORESCENCE.html"> PHOSPHORESCENCE </a> |
|
|
(Previous) PHOSPHATES |
(Next) PHOSPHORITE |
|
Sponsored Advertisements