What's the best UV light to detect tungstates.

[Antimony]

I'd like to use UV light to detect tungsten minerals (Scheelite, Wolframite) in rock samples.

What UV light should I use?

[StringJunky]

I have used fluorescent artificial fishing baits, charging them by shining my white LED headtorch very closely on them for a minute or two.

[John Cuthber]

I have used fluorescent artificial fishing baits, charging them by shining my white LED headtorch very closely on them for a minute or two.

How did you think that helped?*

Generally, scheelite fluoresces under short wave UV

Wolframite doesn't fluoresce.

 

* Fluorescence is generally a very fast effect- a millisecond is a long fluorescence half-life- so if you needed to send a minute shining a torch on something, you were almost certainly not dealing with fluorescence. Even if you were not wrong about that, what did you think it had to do with the question?

[StringJunky]

How did you think that helped?*

Generally, scheelite fluoresces under short wave UV

Wolframite doesn't fluoresce.

 

* Fluorescence is generally a very fast effect- a millisecond is a long fluorescence half-life- so if you needed to send a minute shining a torch on something, you were almost certainly not dealing with fluorescence. Even if you were not wrong about that, what did you think it had to do with the question?

LEDS emit UV. Cheap and easily available

[John Cuthber]

LEDS emit UV. Cheap and easily available

Oddly, you failed to mention those points in your first post.

[StringJunky]

Oddly, you failed to mention those points in your first post.

My apologies. Looking into it, I think your answer that shortwave is required is what he needs to know. The lights designed for that job seem reasonable enough price-wise...might as well get one of them.

Edited July 11, 2015 by StringJunky

[OptimisticCynic]

You might try a visible light trick. When you use a colored gel filter, of the correct color, the mineral you are looking for will stand out in comparison to the surrounding minerals. You would have to experiment with different colored filters to find one that works for what you want to do.