this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
1 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Science

15 readers
1 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.

founded 2 years ago
1
Why do we associate nuclear radiation with a green glow? (kbin.social)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
9 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:

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

and

  1. 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
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

I'm aware, and that was the point I was trying to make - but clearly ineffectively. Thank you for the extra clarifications.