Anthony Brach, Ph.D
You always learn something new!! I did not know that plants were fluorescent. I did a quick Google search
on the term "fluorescent leaves" and found a lot of sites. Chlorophyll itself fluoresces and is used to
monitor the health of the plant in various contexts; however, it appears that this fluorescence is to weak
to be seen visually and is monitored by specialized instruments. But when you think about it many dyes are
fluorescent in addition to absorbing visible light, so it is not too surprising that plants would
fluoresce.
Fluorescence occurs when a molecule absorbs ultraviolet light which puts the molecule in an excited
electronic state. The excited electronic state de-excites be a number of mechanisms. One mechanism is
for the electron to fall to some intermediate electronic state emitting a photon. If that photon has a
wavelength between 400 and 700 nanometers the eye can detect that light. Sometimes the number of photons
emitted are so few that the intensity is too low for the eye to detect. In that case specialized
instruments are needed to observe the fluorescence.
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.
