This article describes construction of a simple, inexpensive fluorometer. It utilizes a flashlight or sunlight source, highlighter marker ink, bowl of water with mirror as dispersing element, and colored cellophane sheets as filters. The human eye is used as a detector. This apparatus is used to demonstrate important concepts related to fluorescence spectroscopy. Using ink from a highlighter marker, one can demonstrate the difference between light scattering and fluorescence emission, the need for an intense light source, phenomenon of the Stokes shift, the choice of filters, the preferred geometry of excitation source and emission detector, and the low detection limits that can be achieved by fluorescence measurements. By reflecting the fluorescence emission from a compact disk, it can be seen that the light emitted by molecules is not monochromatic. Furthermore, a spectrofluorometer is constructed using gratings made from a DVD or a CD. The shoebox fluorometer and spectrofluorometer can serve as useful teaching aids in places where commercial instruments are not available, and it avoids the black box problem of modern instruments.
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