usung a blacklight to find emeralds

ivan salis

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Emerald is beryl. Most green beryl is inert to UV light. If it's of very fine color, you may get some that will fluoresce weakly orangey red to red under LW UV.
Aquamarine is always inert. Yellow and red are always inert.
Jim
 

its well known that emeralds "glow" under the effects of a blacklight ---so if one was to use a powerful blacklight on a moonless night on the 1715 fleet shipwreck beaches ---I wonder what one might find?

judging from the responses above - not emerald
(another folk fable ?)
 

Ivan I don't know who told you that, but emeralds do not fluoresce.

But if they did it would be a great way to find them.

In Arizona people use blacklights at night to find scorpions in their yard and kill them. Nobody knows why, but scorpions fluoresce.

Scorpions_Flouresce.webp
 

In order to "detect" emeralds, you have to exploit the difference in properties. The trouble is that the composition of emeralds is a cyclosilicate, and is very similar to other silicates, otherwise known as beach sand.

Spectroscopy may do it, but I don't know if it could be a practical way to apply it on a beach.

The best, obviously, since they are heavier, would be some sort of ground (wet sand) penetrating system.
 

Even if emeralds don't fluoresce, it's still a good idea to carry a black light when treasure hunting long distance. It's a good way to check the level of bodily fluids on the walls, floor furniture and bed spreads of your hotel room...

Hopefully you realize there are a huge number of items other than body fluids that will fluoresce. Your own clothing detergent will most likely glow, and if they arent rinsed well in the wash, theyll have glowing spots right now.
 

C'mon guys....blacklight have been used in more ways than one for treasure hunting. Working in the estate sale business we would go through the house with black lights at the end of a clean out. If any wall has been altered or plastered the blacklight will see it. Here in south florida when cleaning out a convicted drug lords home....well...you do things like that. Rubies fluoresce in the black light along with other gemstones too....just not emeralds.
 

some do, some don't. Partly depends on the the UV light you're using. Many gems require shortwave UV....the dangerous type. That includes rubies. LED UV lights don't provide it.
Jim
 

C'mon guys....blacklight have been used in more ways than one for treasure hunting. Working in the estate sale business we would go through the house with black lights at the end of a clean out. If any wall has been altered or plastered the blacklight will see it. Here in south florida when cleaning out a convicted drug lords home....well...you do things like that. Rubies fluoresce in the black light along with other gemstones too....just not emeralds.

I apologise in advance but when you mentioned going through the rooms with a black light I couldn't help but remember an episode of Two and a Half Men when they went through Charlies bedroom with a blacklight

 

I apologise in advance but when you mentioned going through the rooms with a black light I couldn't help but remember an episode of Two and a Half Men when they went through Charlies bedroom with a blacklight

Ah, yes. That was the night when the Two and a Half Men writers wrote a CSI episode, and the CSI writers wrote that particular Two and a Half Men episode. Funny stuff...
 

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