Elements fluorescing different colors under dried water droplet?

[lperepol]

Can one distinguish different elements from a drop of dried water on a slide by the colours that fluoresce examined under a microscope?

[Hobbyst46]

I am guessing that by "elements" you mean small organisms or parts thereof:

In principle - yes, cell biologists do it all the time, but AFAIK, researchers mostly rely on specific fluorescent stains or certain molecules (example - GFP) of known properties, rather than on natural fluorescence (often termed "auto-fluorescence"). For example, when a plant tissue contains chlorophylls as well as vitamin-E related molecules, the fluorescence colors are red and yellow-green, respectively. But, a "spectrofluorimeter" feature is only available in sophisticated research microscopes, such as confocal. Besides, fluorescence is usually very weak, such that only highly sensitive cameras (or much more sensitive light detectors) can record it.

[lperepol]

In chemistry, I learnt that some elements will fluoresce different colours when burnt now wondering if something similar can be extrapolated in microscopy. How light refracts through crystals? They would only be water soluble mineralizations.

I am sure something like this has been attempted in microscopy not sure about the efficacy.
https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... otography/

[Hobbyst46]

I am not sure to what fluorescence you refer. Metals do fluoresce under irradiation with Roentgen rays, not visible light rays, so it is not related to optical microscopy. In basic chemistry, they teach about the colors that a flame adopts upon heating some elements. For example, when you expose table salt to the (nearly invisible) gas flame, the flame glows yellow, due to the presence of the element Sodium. However, this is not fluorescence, and again is not related to microscopy, so there is no analogy. The emission of light is not always fluorescence (even the firefly light is not fluorescence).

[wporter]

I am sure something like this has been attempted in microscopy not sure about the efficacy.
https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... otography/

Maybe you're thinking of infrared microspectroscopy, used in chemistry; the variation in IR reflection (absorption) of a substance when exposed to IR wavelengths.

Heating substances until they emit characteristic wavelengths is more a chemical luminescence, rather than fluorescence (re-emitting different wavelengths upon absorbance of UV light).

All of these are well-established analysis techniques. Certainly there is room for the amateur microscopist to explore them.