Backligh emiting light from my skin.

[SnowyEnigma]

Well, this is weird... Today, my dad found this old 1992 Compaq notebook. Being the curious person I am, I disassembled it. I got the monochromatic LCD, and took it apart. Found the backlight, which I just played with while watching the movie Signs. Well in the dark, when I played with it spinning it around my finger fast, light was being emitted from it... I didn't know at the time what was causing it. It was actually freaking me out, since I didn't know what was causing it to glow on/off very fast. Well I later found it was caused by my skin. I later found that by moving it across my skin very fast back and forth, light was produced. The backlight is by itself, it's connected to any outside power source. Is my skin somehow transferring energy through the glass and lighting it up? I really don't know what's going on. I'm only posting this in HT because I'm expecting a HT answer.

-Snowy

 

[JHutch]

Not a HT answer, but ... I'd imagine it is static electricity buildup. At least, that's the only thing I can think of.

JHutch

 

[Mingon]

You can do it with tv's as well due to static.

 

[arcas]

The backlight is just a small fluorescent light. A fluorescent light operates by creating a high voltage electrical discharge in a gas containing, among other things, mercury which emits ultra-violet radiation when it de-excites. This UV radiation strikes the coating on the inside of the glass tube which absorbs the UV and re-emits visible light (that is, it "fluoresces").

Anyway, by rubbing the tube across your skin, you created a sufficient static potential to set up the discharge. This experiment isn't limited to rubbing across your skin. Try other things...wool or perhaps run a brush through your hair several times very quickly then bring it near the tube.