UV

I've gathered some thoughts on UV light over the last two of days.

Identification

> So my institute holds something of an annual "ITC’s Got Talent", where students present their work. I was there as well, listening to all the research my frenzies and the usual suspects have done.
> interested.jpg
> Suddenly this guy appears. Starts talking about his work. Oh, he does lasers. very-interested.jpg
So what he did was:

1. laser photolised the molecules
> ok

2. recorded the UV spectra of the products
> erh, alright, I guess

Then he goes: "The photolysis products' UV spectra showed the traces of the original molecule. Oh and I should mention that the other products are still unidentified."
> no-shit-man-you-took-the-uv-spectra-not-the-nmr-da-hell-did-you-expect.gif

So yeah, there's that.

Luminescence

Just today, I participated in a discussion about the visible light range. The problem? Our professor once used a method that involved adjusting an optical element, which called for centering something such that the potassium doublet lines at ca. 765-770 nm are positioned correctly, etc. He realized this wavelength is already out of the visible range for him, even though the status quo for visible light range is something like 400-790 nm. Then he asked us if 390 nm is UV already.

I was somewhat swift to proudly note that 365 nm is visible to me. I know this because our lab has LEDs tuned to 365 nm, and I can see the light they emit just fine. He laughed. "Why?" I asked. "That's vitreous body luminescence" he replied.

It didn't occur to me previously.