What is black light?

Question

I read, "A black light can help detect urine marks" in the answer to someone's question on cat urine. Do you know what black light is and where to get a black light torch (is that right?) - my male cat sprays on the furniture and I don't always see him do it. I'd love to be able to detect where he's gone so I can wash it properly. I can't smell anything but I know he must do it when I don't see him.

Answer 1

Also known as ultraviolet, or UV light. UV torches are pretty easy to find online.

Answer 2

A "black light" is an ultraviolet lamp. Urine fluoresces under UV light. Male cat "spray" is only partially urine, the rest is an oily secretion from a gland near his anus used for marking territory.
Get the Tom snipped and he may stop spraying all over the place. If you can't smell it, consider yourself fortunate.

Answer 3

Hi there..a black light emits an ultraviolet light which illuminates the urine since urine contains phosphors that glow. You can purchase these at any hardware store for a small amount. Here's what some black lights look like: http://www.blacklight.com/Blacklights

To clean urine stains/odours consider using Nature's Miracle Just For Cats found worldwide at most pet stores. It's an enzymatic neutralizer which works by breaking down urine proteins by thoroughly soaking the areas affected and allowing to air dry. Repeated applications are necessary for heavily soiled areas.

Nature's Miracle Just For Catsproduct info: http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441775019&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025596&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023690&bmUID=1167132360710&itemNo=0&Ntt=nature%27s+miracle+just+for+cats&In=All&previousText=nature%27s+miracle+just+for+cats&N=2

We've tested nearly all enzyme neutralizers available in the marketplace for our exotic cats which have stronger urine than domestic cats and found that Nature's Miracle Just for Cats has always worked the best.

Answer 4

Black light is the name given to ultra-violet light because, although it is not visible to our eyesight, it's effect on fluorescent materials is, it makes them glow brightly although the light source remains unseen.
There are no torches available that I am aware of, but there are handlamps that use a small fluorescent tube.
A suitable device would be the small hand-held units that are used to read the invisible markings that you can use to protect property that are readily available as a kit consisting of a marker pen and light unit.
If you are subjected to ultra-violet light, it can make it appear to be slightly misty due to the light causing particles inside your eye to fluoresce. It is not harmful unless you get close to the light source and stare into it for several hours.

Answer 5

A "black" light is in fact an ultraviolet light. It's the kind of light that makes posters glow. You should be able to get a small hand-held blacklight for under $10 US.

My favorite black-light site is http://www.blacklight.com/ - if they don't have it, nobody will!

Answer 6

a black light is also known as a florescent light (sorry i might of misspelled that) its the type of lights that come around on halloween, the ones that make white turn bright purple-ish. However, i think you need a stronger one then the ones use on halloween. Maybe at a department store, but you can check online which palces sell them around your area.

Answer 7

A black light is actually a blue colour, but when it is on it produces an effect of darkening dark colours and enhancing white and light colours including body excretions.

Answer 8

watch CSI, they keep using black light to detect sperm, urine, blood... now to get one, it is the light used in night club and that make ur white clothes so flashy so u can try event companies

Answer 9

Military Grade Tactical Flashlight : http://FlashLight.uzaev.com/?elBh

Answer 10

Black light (also Wood's light) is the common name for a lamp emitting electromagnetic radiation that is almost exclusively in the soft near ultraviolet range, and very little visible light. In the United Kingdom this type of lighting is more commonly referred to as simply "UV light".

Description

Fluorescent black lights are typically made in the same fashion as normal fluorescent lights except that only one phosphor is used and the normally clear glass envelope of the bulb may be replaced by a deep-bluish-purple glass called Wood's glass, a nickel-oxide–doped glass, which blocks almost all visible light above 400 nanometers. The color of such lamps is often referred to in the trade as blacklite blue.
The phosphor typically used for a near 368 to 371 nanometer emission peak is either europium-doped strontium fluoroborate (SrB4O7F:Eu2+) or europium-doped strontium borate (SrB4O7:Eu2+) while the phosphor used to produce a peak around 350 to 353 nanometers is lead-doped barium silicate (BaSi2O5:Pb+). Blacklite blue lamps peak at 365 nm.
A black light may also be formed by simply using Wood's glass instead of clear glass as the envelope for a common incandescent bulb. This was the method used to create the very first black light sources. Though it remains a cheaper alternative to the fluorescent method, it is exceptionally inefficient at producing UV light (a mere few lumens per watt) owing to the black body nature of the incandescent light source. Incandescent UV bulbs, due to their inefficency, may also become dangerously hot during use. More rarely still, high power (hundreds of watts) mercury vapor black lights can be found which use a UV emitting phosphor and an envelope of woods glass. These lamps are used mainly for theatrical and concert displays and also become very hot during normal use.
Some UV fluorescent bulbs specifically designed to attract insects for use in bug zappers use the same near UV emitting phosphor as normal blacklights but instead of using the more expensive Wood's glass to filter out most of the visible mercury emission spectrum they instead use plain glass which has the effect of making them appear light blue to the naked eye. Sometimes these bulbs are referred to as "blacklite" or "blacklight blue".
Ultraviolet light can be also generated by some light-emitting diodes.
Uses



A black light bulb. To the human eye, the light looks much more violet.


"Midnight bowling" utilizing blacklights and the fluorescence of pins to enhance ambience.
The ultraviolet radiation itself is invisible to the human eye, but illuminating certain materials with UV radiation prompts the visible effects of fluorescence and phosphorescence. Black light testing is commonly used to authenticate antiques and banknotes. It is extensively used in non-destructive testing; fluorescing fluids are applied to metal structures and illuminated with a black light. Cracks and other artifacts can easily be detected.
It is also used to illuminate pictures painted with fluorescent colors (preferably on black velvet to intensify the illusion of self-illumination). The fluorescence it prompts from certain textile fibers, especially those bearing optical brightener residue, is also used as a recreational effect (as seen for instance in the opening credits of the James Bond film A View to a Kill).
In forensic investigations, black lights are used to reveal the presence of trace evidence, such as blood, urine, semen and saliva, by causing visible fluorescence in these substances. The use of this technique by exposé style television news magazines for reporting on the various unsanitary and mysterious stains found in hotel rooms has become such an oft-repeated stunt that it has been lampooned on comedy shows such as Family Guy and The Office (US).
One of the innovations for night and all-weather flying used by the US, UK and Germany during 1939-1945 was the use of UV floodlights to illuminate the instrument panel, giving a variable intensity alternative to the Radium painted instrument faces and pointers, without visible illumination that would give away an aircraft's position. This went so far as to include the printing of charts that were marked in UV-fluorescent inks, and the provision of UV-visible pencils and slide rules such as the E6B. However, the common failure of the light's power inverter on take-offs in bombers, and the night-blindness and crashes caused when the blacklight filter fell off on trainer aircraft led to the system being mostly abandoned.