Physics of a Glow in the Dark Art

Have you ever noticed that a glow in the dark art room looks different? I am going to explain my theory of the beauty of these displays. First there is the black light, which is a UV bulb. This is special because it appears that when a black light shines, the room remains dark. I assume this is because the bulb can be very bright, but the materials in the room do not reflect the light, so only the bulb is bright, while the room remains dark. Second is the phosphorescent materials, the objects in the displays that glow in the dark. Whether from gathering visible light when the room is regularly illuminated during the day, or whether from collecting the black light energy, these materials are able to emit the glow. These are different than bulb light sources, because the area of illumination can be diffuse. They are also different because a glow in the dark object may appear very bright, but once again, the surrounding objects will not appear illuminated. Consider a regular green object, it is reflecting a particular wavelength from solar or indoor lighting. But the wavelengths emitted by glow in the dark objects to not appear to be reflected by other objects in the room. So when you combine the black light (UV) and the glow in the dark objects, with a background that does not reflect those colors, you get a scene illuminated against a pitch black background. This high contrast, because it is so unique, looks different and catches our sense of magic.