• ID Code: p3-67
  • Purpose: Demonstrate that laundry soap is fluorescent.
  • Description: Fluorescent chemicals are typically added to laundry soap to make white clothing appear "whiter and brighter." In the presence of even a small amount of UV, the fluorescence due to the residual chemical remaining after the clothes are rinsed is sufficient to cause white shirts, socks, or T-shirts to have a blue/white glow. Soap manufacturers would like consumers to believe that their soaps are actually making the whites "whiter."
  • Availability: Available
  • References: http://lecdem.physics.umd.edu/images/refs/refsp.htm#P3-67
  • Loc codes: P3