Information on uranium

[glasscollector]

Phosphor is the element used for glow in the dark objects as glow lights construction stripe and firefighter uniforms a few examples. Phosphor absorbs light and illuminates after dark, unlike uranium glass the key to making uranium glow is a (Ultra Violet light) called fluorescence light. Uranium is radio active (don't fear this the radio active levels are fairly low in glass even so it is not reccomended to eat off) Ultra violet radiation combined with uranium atoms result in a bright green glow. The more intense UV light the brighter the green glow, the less uv light will luminate the original color combined with bright green glow kinda like spotty. High concentrated uranium glass can also glow in daylight as to our natural UV rays. Glow is paler though.

The higher the uranium dioxide contents in glass the great the glow effect.

Yellow is formed by Red and Green, so when a green colour is added, green then becomes the dominant colour of the glass, yet it will still fluoresce bright green under Ultra Violet light (black light).
Other colour are rarer but I have found amber, blue, turquoise, pink, white and grey glass all with a positive uranium dioxide content (Confirmed by testing) and all fluoresced a brilliant green under Ultra Violet light (blacklight) except for uranium glass with a high lead content which exhibits a reduction in green glow due to the dulling effect of the lead. That’s why some glow a duller green color.


The higher the uranium content the brighter the glow. Which make it more collectable. The less uranium content the more confusing it can be this could be other compounds that cause this effect. To be 100% sure of uranium in glass test with a Geiger counter and Long wave UV (black light), to confirm that the glow was caused by uranium dioxide and not Manganese or some other chemical, as could occur.
UV Bulbs are great in small areas or a few pieces long wave florescent light is best for larger and bigger spaces.
Sandy

[Dar]

Wow what great information that explains alot to me personally relating to all my chalet uranium pieces. Thanks alot. Love your sharing your knowlege with us.

[deborah]

Hey glasscollector,

Excellent post - thank you . Now however, I have trucked up and down the stairs carrying a whole bunch of new pieces that I had never looked at under UV light before - I have the wave type. Some indisputably uranium and some totally not - easy to tell! It is all the shades and variations of green in between that have my head spinning and eyes bugging. So - went to e-bay to look at geiger counters (LOL feel like a spy) as I think a good wasy to test myself and learn the variations as so affected by colour and other additives, would be to put under UV light, make myr decision and then check my decision by using a geiger counter as the failsafe. That way I would really learn from my miscalls.

So - the models there are incredible - from cents to hundreds of $ and from all over the world which is a bet sketchy too. Would a model like item #220674818536 be reputable, easy to use? What do you suggest - generally you get what you pay for in terms of quality - thoughts?

This is bizarre but I would love to have an "expert" like that sitting at my elbow ever time I turn on my UV light!

Thanks!

Deborah

[glasscollector]

Maybe this link will help as long as it is working order no specific recommendations for as little use as you would use it for just make sure it is in working order. My husband is a chemist so we have a high tech one here never used any other.
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[deborah]

Hey,

Watched the video - seems very straight forward and very dependable so I think given all the different "glows" that I canfind in my Chalet, I will look for a reasonablely priced one from a reputable seller and go for it - I would feel much more comfortable promoting a Chalet piece as also being a uranium piece if I had this as a tool.

Thanks again - am off to the world's biggest shopping center to see what I can find.

Deborah

[samcass]

Right on glasscollector very thorough information. A+

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