Why These 5 Rocks Actually Glow

If you're lucky enough to find a glowing rock, it likely doesn't mean you're the chosen one. In fact, it could have to do with one of these five phenomena! Learn about the quantum mechanics of glowing rocks in this new SciShow Episode with Hank Green!
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Sources:
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micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/t...
www.chemistryviews.org/detail...
archive.org/details/phosphoru...
www.compoundchem.com/2014/10/...
www.minerals.net/resource/pro...
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chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelv...
science.howstuffworks.com/inn...
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books.google.com/books?id=PaV...
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[@doctoryellow]

Shocked that Hank didn't title this "You'll Never Shine If You Don't Glow"

[@bluesap7318]

Hey now your a rockstar

[@Mr.Beauregarde]

Or, Am I the Prettiest rock Sho'nuff

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

But this whole video was about how all the glitters is NOT gold.

[@jrbship]

He probably would have if he were making a Vlogbrothers video about these rocks!

[@boostedxmas]

I came looking for these golden nuggets. So not disappointed

[@GRBtutorials]

Fun fact: LEDs are an example of electroluminescent devices. Diodes emit light while conducting current because of the electrons getting excited and jumping to a higher energy level and subsequently releasing the energy as light, and LEDs are just a special kind of diodes made from materials that emit visible light instead of the infrared light emitted by regular silicon diodes. Furthermore, photovoltaic solar cells are also diodes, and they’re based on the inverse effect: when they absorb photons, the electrons get excited, which produces a potential difference which can produce a current.

[@robspiess]

The photoelectric effect? Pff, thanks, Einstein...

[@themartianway]

Solar cells can emit light (infrared) when a current is applied. There's a Steve Mold video that explains it very well.

[@Quintinohthree]

If you're ever visiting Haarlem (if you're in Amsterdam, get on a train and forget about it, Haarlem is better), be sure to check out the Teyler's Museum. They have a massive room with all sorts of minerals (including the literal summitbof the Mont Blanc, so neither Italy nor France can lay claim to it) and off to the side of the entrance to that is this small dark room with all sorts of fluorescent and phosphorescent rocks. It's absolutely beautiful. Great museum overall, sort of a hodgepodge with old scientific instruments, minerals and art.

[@watema3381]

noted! will make sure to visit after K-Rona

[@Fusako8]

Here, just a hair west of Portland Oregon, you have the Rice NW Museum of Rocks and Minerals, with their rainbow room. They have lots of impressive displays, but the Rainbow Room is my favorite. That said, I love going there with my rockhounding lights and showing off some of their fluorescing rocks that are outside of the Rainbow Room. (Like, oh, nearly anything with uranium in it.)

[@phoule76]

I saw a similar museum in Namibia, too.

[@MikeJBeebe]

Damn! I was in Haarlem last year and I actually walked by that place and gave it the cold shoulder because I thought is was some shlocky museum. Foolish me!

[@GoingtoHecq]

9:00 for the great diamond authority

[@bcjmythical9576]

I knew someone would make that joke

[@germimonte]

9:00 that sneaky SU Easter egg, don't try to pretend it was an accident, the order of the pics is too much of a coincidence

[@Wytchandwyvern]

I saw that subtle Steven Universe Diamond reference, SciShow. I gotchu.

[@marierosepaul8034]

glad im not the only one hehe

[@cel2460]

"They can have flaws in their structure that made them white" SO WHITE DIAMOND IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FLAWLESS AFTER ALL

[@TinySwanGrandAdventures]

I'm surprised that Rubies and Sapphires weren't mentioned as well. But since they weren't, I'll go ahead and share the fact that both floresce under a blacklight with Rubies florescing as a bright pink and Sapphires a much more subtle dark pink.💙💙

[@TheHungarianMan]

Nice SU reference with the Diamonds! ;)

[@KevenYuki]

Im glad other people noticed!

[@hlakanipetros6670]

I just saw that

[@SlurpieDoo]

its the other way around bud haha

[@watema3381]

i'm too stupid to understand this comment edit: never mind, I got it :)

[@DragonDoomLord]

@@SlurpieDoo White diamond at the top, yellow to the left, blue to the right, and pink at the bottom, is the Diamond Authority Insignia. So yeah them positioning em like that visually is a reference x3

[@christopherpasta344]

I used to have so many of those glow stars in my bedroom. They never held charges that well after a year or two. I wonder how they manufacture phosphorescence, and why it degrades like so. -I looked it up. Zinc sulfide powder, which came into popularity in the 1970’s. It’s relatively inexpensive, dissolves easily in water, and is approved for use in cosmetics.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Reminds me of the time I went to a mining museum on a fifth grade trip. We got to take a look at some really cool bioluminescent rocks. It was even cooler that we had the opportunity to keep some if we found any in a big huge pile. Orange and green are the colors my rocks grow. It's interesting learning more about those rocks and how they became that way

[@chesthoIe]

The "that's another story" involves a French dude who was waaaaaaaay too interested in playing with pee.

[@noemirios7902]

You can't just give us a half explanation when that's the context. don't be shy, explain the whole story

[@beckyanderson988]

@@noemirios7902 just look up the alchemist that made phosphorus

[@heatherswanson1664]

Chemists seem to have this quirk, like Nile Red

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

Hennig Brand was a _German_ pharmacist and alchemy. He was dead certain that the key to the Philosopher's Stone was locked away somewhere in human urine, so he collected his own, his wife's, and his associates' which he experimented on in numerous ways. Eventually he ended up with a glowing molten substance that crystalized into green, light emitting lumps that he called phosphorus after the Greek word for "light bringer." He wasn't sure what to actually do with it, so he just made it and showed it off as a novelty.

[@roxyspamcake]

@@heatherswanson1664 To clarify for others: I am unaware if Nile Red has this fetish, lol, but he's a really entertaining chemist here on KZbin, he made some glow and the dark powder from scratch that looks really cool.

[@lindseydawes2003]

It's 1:30 am and I just spent 20 minutes rubbing quartz together

[@sdfkjgh]

@Lindsey Dawes: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow Hey, what you do in the privacy of your own home is none of our business. Not kinkshaming, just wondering if any sparks were flying. kzbin.info/www/bejne/raaUhot5md6BpZI

[@dadillen5902]

So the what the kids call it today. In my day we called it getting your rocks off. I know, I'm a dirty old man, but I prefer the term "sexy senior citizen"

[@sdfkjgh]

@@dadillen5902: "Getting your rocks off." i c wat u did thar.

[@dadillen5902]

@@sdfkjgh' It only rock 'n' roll, but I like it'

[@Caterfree10]

9:04 I see y’all with your Diamond Authority alignment there. 👀

[@Hexsyn]

"Forbidden transitions" has got to be my favorite phrase for the month

[@sdfkjgh]

@Micah Miller: That'd make a good name for a Post-Rock group.

[@dadillen5902]

Great band name!

[@dadillen5902]

@@sdfkjgh Is that what they call the cat howling I hear on top 40 radio "Post Rock"? I thought someone was beating Grimes with a half dozen cats while twisting Yoko Ono nipples. Or was it the other way round.

[@Caterfree10]

Meanwhile my trans ass is like “wonder if I can make a joke out of this”.

[@Hexsyn]

@@Caterfree10 you said it, not me! :p

[@BoneyMiles]

9:00 AAAhhh, I see that Steven Universe Diamond Authority nod there. Always nice to see pop culture ref on this show even subtle ones.

[@bastiaan8096]

SciShow really rocks!

[@Christopher-N]

Dee Snider would be proud.

[@Bouzsi]

🤦‍♂️

[@HoloFizz]

*_hiss_*

[@task_under_rubblestone5575]

gneiss pun sorry this one is a little schist maybe some other time and galena insight from each other before the next 4500 Ma well it’s getting slate good niter

[@3800S1]

Galena is electroluminecent. I remember years ago I tried to make a diode from a piece and it lit up with a yellow light around the contact points. Basically making a crude LED.

[@makeracistsafraidagain]

I collect fluorescent minerals. Some responses require very specific short or long wave UV.

[@rbesfe]

they're MINERALS, Marie!

[@dashanthonyflagg9562]

in actuality, there are rocks that exhibit some of the properties discussed here. rocks, being a combination of various minerals, sometimes contain ones that say fluoresce, or are phosphorescent, like calcite, etc. they aren't the pure form of the mineral but are conglomerates of multiple minerals. yet they still display luminosity for one reason or another. also, geologists, when referring to both rocks and minerals, will just use the term rocks to describe material in general.

[@thomaswburkhart]

You guys should do a video on supercriticality-with reference to the nuclear side of course

[@prunabluepepper]

And/ or the triple point of water.

[@laith9989]

I want someone who’s bright and rocks SciShow: *FLUORITE*

[@StarScapesOG]

When I was younger my parents replaced the tile in our kitchen to natural travertine. I discovered that the travertine floresced a bright yellow-green and even experienced phosphorescens for a second or so. Just saying you never know where stuff like this will show up!

[@tomf3150]

Aragonite is fluorescent and calcite can be too.

[@StarScapesOG]

@@tomf3150 indeed. I've also found a few sapphire, ruby, agat, and other various silicates that have fluorescence and or phosphorescence! Even a cheap uv light can help you find interesting specimens that glow.

[@zorkmid1083]

@@tomf3150 I've found calcite and fluorite to be not that great with fluorescence. You need some fairly shortwave UV light to get them going, so just using a UV flashlight is not going to do it. One mineral I do like is willemite, which will glow under some fairly longwave UV light.

[@Shaden0040]

Triboluminescense is why wintergreen life savers glow when you chew them in your front teeth?

[@lachlandoig763]

I'm just wondering if the Steven universe reference was intentional, The way they arranged the diamonds by color... the colours they chose IDK

[@CyUzi5280]

9:01 I see what you're doing, SciShow. I'm on to you and your Diamonds.

[@bulgeandshoes]

Excuse me, did y’all just intentionally arrange the diamond images in their positions on the Diamond Authority insignia?

[@twilighttricksterXXI]

looks like it

[@camillecirrus3977]

"Yo! That quantum computer rocks!" "Yeah, it has glowing rocks inside it." "...What?" "What?"

[@catman8965]

Remember the old saying "lime-light".

[@catman8965]

I'm surprised SciShow didn't pick up this historic fact.

[@Toastmaster_5000]

Jesus Christ Hank! They're minerals!

[@AquibMohammedAyman]

Exactly!

[@dashanthonyflagg9562]

in actuality, there are rocks that exhibit some of the properties discussed here. rocks, being a combination of various minerals, sometimes contain ones that say fluoresce, or are phosphorescent, like calcite, etc. they aren't the pure form of the mineral but are conglomerates of multiple minerals. yet they still display luminosity for one reason or another. also, geologists, when referring to both rocks and minerals, will just use the term rocks to describe whatever material in general.

[@TheCrystalCollector]

Whaaaaaaaaat! Great episode!

[@arexandra]

I love that at 9:02 the diamonds are arranged in the pattern used in the show Steven Universe. It makes my inner SU fan so happy 💕✨️

[@cheeseboy8241]

sweet now I can just say I have a forbidden transition instead of saying "I'll probably never afford top surgery"

[@UGNAvalon]

“If a rock you’re holding starts glowing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re the Chosen One.” Yeah, it could mean that you’re secretly an alien adopted by human parents, and that you’re about to get a fatal dose of Kryptonite poisoning.

[@dadillen5902]

You watch entirely to much Smallville. 😉

[@basmasonbol1395]

Hey scishow, allow me to suggest removing the red bars on the right and left edges of your thumbnails, it makes the watched and unwatched videos on your channel kinda harder to distinguish because the red bar at the bottom just appears as part of the thumbnail

[@arduousJester]

There's a cave around where I live that has a phosphorescent spot, it's on one side of a structure that looks like a big lizard/dragon. It's got the glowy bit round the eye and teeth area, it's super cool I love showing it off to visitors

[@InternetReviewerGuy]

SciShow videos have the best like/dislike ratios I've ever seen on the internet. Good community.

[@ales94x]

They're Minerals! -Hank from Braking Bad

[@crazyinvaderfangirl1]

The Diamond Authority at 9:01 👌🏾

[@RukiAlvarez]

did anyone notice the diamond were arranged as in the diamond authority symbol

[@mauricejohnson5721]

My diamond.

[@Dee-jp7ek]

9:00 I see what you did there

[@nathanstrong4359]

what?

[@anoyint]

@@nathanstrong4359 the great diamond authority

[@NindeRingeril]

Homage to the Diamond Authority at 9:01 to all SU fans around there

[@AnimilesYT]

10:00 I love the way you say "more" It sounds like Roswaal from Re:Zero

[@ishan6771]

takes me back to the frenkel defects

[@dadillen5902]

These days your not allowed to call them 'defects', we call them 'handy challenged' or something like that. 😯

[@CDHsociety]

The way they positioned there diamonds is the same as the diamonds from stevan universe

[@Veni_Vidi_Vortice]

THEIR

[@johelrivera5654]

Finally someone noticed

[@mrjoe332]

Ikr. Probably coincidence, but who knows

[@Lulzigi]

They totally did that on purpose

[@melissawickersham9912]

Actually, pink and red diamonds are the rarest diamond colors in real life.

[@waynedombrowski7568]

I've been collecting fluorescent minerals for decades and find them fascinating. The deposits around Franklin,NJ are the very best in the world,but there are many other places where they're found. You need a long wave uv lamp like a black light,and a short wave uv,usually made from a mercury vapor germicidal lamp and a filter to screen out visible light,which can get pricey if you go big. One of my favorites in my collection is a 5-color specimen from Franklin: green willemite,red-orange calcite,purple hardystonite,yellow esperite and orange clinohedrite. What makes Franklin minerals so spectacular is two trace elements in just the right proportion:3% manganese and 1% lead activates the glow in a large number of the many types of minerals found there. I encourage everyone to look into them. Both scientifically and aesthetically,the subject can become obsessive. Trust me..

[@YuanLiuTheDoc]

That 'little asymmetry" needed for triboluminescence is called anisotropy, which is present in 27 of 32 types of crystal structures. This translates roughly to the majority of rocks. Some non-crystalline materials are also anisotropic.

[@taitaisanchez]

White diamond on top Yellow, then blue Pink on the bottom Naaaah just a coincidence

[@germimonte]

don't think it is, the positioning is too much of a coincidence to be random

[@artemis_smith]

??

[@minnarew]

@@artemis_smith this comment is to do with a show about a half human-half alien rock who happens to be Pink

[@artemis_smith]

@@minnarew oh ok I know of the show

[@sdfkjgh]

4:40 You can also see triboluminescence when you pull a tissue from its box (must have plastic holding up the tissue for this to work), or when you pull a trashbag from the roll.

[@rlsingle00]

Good job at explaining this phenomenon. Thanks again keep up the great work.

[@KarlBunker]

I thought this sounded like a boring subject for a video, but of course I was totally wrong about that. I should learn to trust SciShow.

[@sagacious03]

Neat video! Thanks for uploading!

[@minnymouse4753]

Have you hard of Rochelle salts . put some cream of tartar. Or the hard residue from wine bottles cook some backing soda . the mix cooked banking soda and cream of tartar or wine residue. In water boil them over. Rochelle salts give off electrical currents when vibration is introduced from sound to force

[@alkh2624]

indeed the salts are piezoelectric.

[@abbydabbs5519]

“Any rock will glow if you heat it up enough” aye thanks hank I had no clue

[@hjnkhjnk1871]

This is so fascinating, thanks!

[@robomatrix4582]

this is helpful, because I'm working on a story project using stones as parts of magic items or the magic items themselves. the one that actually makes since in a magical setting is the ones that glow after being hit with something, like if a wizard wants to know how far he has to go into a cave and isn't willing to be killed by, whatever monster lives inside, he can enchant the glowing rock, to return to his bag, after he throws it. another one that works, is the stone that glows when held, because if it's the right size the wizard or mage holding it, can use it like a flashlight.

[@timmcdaniel6193]

I am saddened that this didn't cover ALL the ways that rocks can glow.

[@dadillen5902]

They do have a certain glow when they're pregnant. 😁

[@pedroscoponi4905]

More geology, please! There is not enough geology content in youtube in general :C if anyone knows a good, fun one to recommend, it's probably the science I know the least about...

[@prunabluepepper]

Uuuh geology topic! Insta-upvote. My favourite "rock" is Disthen. Most beautiful in white Quarzit together with Garnet, Almandin, Biotit and Amphibol, as found in Tirol.

[@thirstfast1025]

I learned today! Thanks!

[@SephirothRyu]

As far as rocks I never WANT to see glow, anything like the infamous Demon Core comes to mind.

[@billberndtson]

LONG time viewer - love the channel! Is the spark from a wintergreen Lifesaver from triboluminescence?

[@BrandonGraham]

If you want to know about some more cool rocks, check out Alexis Dahl. She's got a couple good rock videos, but the one about The Alexandrite Effect is pretty rad.

[@jennilocke]

Any time this channel talks about rocks/minerals/gems/crystals, they summon the neopagans and the Steven Universe crowd. And a few really cool geologists. Which one are you?

[@ResortDog]

Note: the bubbles in many quartz enhydros Glow in UV to make finding them easy in lace quartz crystals.

[@NeonsStyleHD]

Hard candy will triboluminesce when crushed. [turn the lights out]

[@IudiciumInfernalum]

Hard Candy. It's the best kind, you really get your money's worth, as they say.

[@watema3381]

hard candy is the best candy

[@demawoods2679]

Specifically wintergreen lifesavers. It’s really cool to do in a cave with pitch black

[@DouchMonkey431]

Shoelaces is a very strange example for something to glow under a blacklight but I'm with it!

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

My favorite glowing rock is Yooperlite from the U.P. of Michigan.

[@rajendrakhanvilkar9362]

Great video

[@Goodharraz3421]

Thanks guys

[@HoloFizz]

Thank, Hank

[@Fusako8]

As an avid collector of various photo luminescent minerals, this was definately SciShow for me. One of my favorite rocks, a large calcite crystal, exhibits both Phosphorescence under 254nm UV, orange Fluorescence under 365nm, and pink Fluorescence under 395nm. I strongly suspect it would exhibit Triboluminescence as well, but I don't want to smash my favorite rocks. I do wish you had shown some good calcite/willamite examples under normal white light, though. They can looks quite a bit like normal granite.

[@alexanderx33]

3:22 Incorrect, fluorite is also phosphorescent, just not as brightly as some samples of calcite.

[@chandrahaslanka]

There is a small exhibit in Raman Research Institute in Bangalore where they showcase these kind of rocks. They turn off the lights and hit the rocks with UV. Very cool thing to look at.

[@whatitmeans]

How you forgot about ruby??... there are videos in youtube of home made ruby stones glowing under UV light

[@davidprodigy5833]

I love stuff like this 😍

[@weatherkidchannel5288]

I love sci show

[@kindafunnyvoiceactor6438]

7:54 but your saying that there's a chance

[@MrMysticphantom]

*Forbidden Transitions* Oh myy

[@LuciferAlmighty]

These are so cool. I've seen some at the Smithsonian.

[@otavioluis5774]

9:03, i get the reference

[@isawilson3950]

Don't take rocks for granite

[@gordonlawrence1448]

Triboluminescence is understood for glucose. Whack it with a hammer and you get a flash and often a spark.

[@theBeastcub]

nerd me is just sitting here thinking of Eethereum from Castle in the Sky

[@mariafranceschini7662]

Life Savers, Wintergreen mints make sparks!!! When I was a teenager, we would buy a bag or roll of mints, wait until dark, and bite into them with our mouth cracked open. So fun. So tasty.

[@daveayerstdavies]

Triboluminescence also happens when you peel adhesive tape. I first noticed the phenomenon in a darkroom when removing the sticky tape at the end of a roll of photographic film.

[@christadenomey7283]

Thankyou😊

[@gaeshows1938]

the rock is the coolest rock

[@doverghostcore8523]

Hank, at min 1, I really thought you said the word "coloroundum". I saw whole video laughing about the joke, it just had me rolling on the floor. But then I realized that it was a joke from subconcious. Sometimes my psyche amaze me... Ruby and sapphire are kinds of COLORUNDUM LOL x)

[@tinythingy4]

I miss going to the museum and going into the dark room with glowing rocks

[@poke_cactushobby3780]

I found a small calcite like stone on Lake Erie that has small yellowish inclusions that are phosphorescent. I only own a short wave light so I cant test much more. its quickly become one of my favorite rocks.

[@alysonshorthouse8858]

Holy cow! I just tried this with some quartz crystals I have lying around and it totally works! Brief, yellow light inside the crystal. So cool

[@johnconnor6725]

In S.W. Utah, on some land I got a few years back. Using a UV flashlight I've been finding reactive rocks in white, yellow, orange, green and a very bright green. A couple of red but very little. Most tend to be a quarts like later coating but some not.

[@EcceJack]

Oh, I didn't know calcite is phosphorescent! I've got a piece at home, so I'll be sure to try it out soon :D

[@HeroOfTheDay16]

it's not common that you can perform science by smashing rocks together I genuinely got a laugh from that thank you hank

[@vasp99]

Hank!!

[@mushroomsamba82]

9:33 the world works by minecraft logic. If a gold computer is good, a diamond one must be way better.

[@trilliumi2082]

This video... rocks

[@kevinolive]

Not a rock but when I was a kid we found a decaying/rotting stump that was glowing in the dark. I assume it was some kind of fungus that caused it. We brought some back to our camp site and it was still glowing hours later.

[@CatsForTheCatGod]

3:50... You mean my boys the Zeppelis made it into the video?

[@DaidriveCJ]

I was looking for someone else to notice that as well!

[@CatsForTheCatGod]

@@DaidriveCJ 👈😎👈

[@Octane.on.pawz.]

Mmmmm this one here smells great!