Ask Science

10 readers

3 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.

founded 1 year ago

Why do we associate nuclear radiation with a green glow? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago by VoxAdActa@kbin.social to c/askscience@kbin.social

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So I just saw the YouTube video someone posted that showed nuclear reactors starting up, and the first thing I noticed was that they all glowed a very bright, pretty blue. I'm probably an idiot, but I was honestly expecting green, because of many years of dramatized depictions in popular media.

These are probably dumb questions, but:

Why is it blue? As in, what's actually glowing in there, and why do we see it that way?

and

Why do all the movies and comic books and video games go with green instead? Where did that come from?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] VioletRing@kbin.social 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm guessing the tragedy of the radium girls had something to do with the association.

https://timeline.com/radium-girls-kate-moore-2bc5746f9a6b

ETA: I'm not sure it's actually mentioned in the article, but radium paint glows green.

[–] panoptic@kbin.social 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I’m almost certain this is it.

Most people’s experience in the early days with “glowing radioactive stuff” would have been radium paint, which glows green.

Normal people wouldn’t have seen Cherenkov radiation (blue glow)

Edit: just to make it clear, stuff painted with radium paint was not uncommon decades ago
Source: I’m gettin kinda old

[–] Bucket_of_Truth@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Tritium glows bright green and is used in a lot of consumer products, specifically gun sights and watches. Uranium glass also glows bright green.

Maybe people think radioactive things glow green because... they often do glow green.