[TheForge] Shop Lighting

[Grover Richardson]

Yes.  If you look at a red "neon sign," you can actually see inside the bulb
and see the glowing gas.  As I remember it, neon glows red and other gasses
glow different colors.  Only certain gasses will glow, I think they are
called the "noble gasses."  It's been a loooong time<G>.

Fun stuff.

And back to hammering on something else<G>.

>*>-----Original Message-----
>*>From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
>*>[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bruce Freeman
>*>Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 9:54 AM
>*>To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
>*>Subject: RE: [TheForge] Shop Lighting
>*>
>*>
>*>That is also my understanding.  Just as for lightning, the 
>*>arc through the fluorescent tube breaks down some the 
>*>nitrogen inside to ions.  Those ions conduct electricity 
>*>much more easily than unionized (hmmm, that's UN-ionized, 
>*>not UNION-ized) nitrogen.  Meanwhile, the 
>*>ionization/recombination of the nitrogen emits UV radiation. 
>*> The UV strikes the fluor on the inside of the glass, and 
>*>the fluor re-emits the light in the visible wavelength.
>*>
>*>BTW, if you have a prism or diffraction grating handy (and 
>*>you can use a piece of an AOL CD for the latter) you can 
>*>make a simple spectroscope.  This will enable you to 
>*>actually see the colors in any light source.  Incandescent 
>*>light is a continuous "rainbow" from red through violet.  
>*>Sunlight is the same, except it's missing the "spectral 
>*>lines" where hydrogen and helium absorb.  Fluorescent light 
>*>consists of a number of spectral lines, and is not at all 
>*>continuous.  Interesting, if you want to play around with it.
>*>
>*>Bruce
>*>NJ
>*>
>*>>>> grover.richardson at gtri.gatech.edu 2/28/2006 4:05:47 PM >>>
>*>Possibly I used the word arc in correctly.  The gas inside 
>*>the tube, hhmm, plasma??  Is that the correct word?  It 
>*>conducts.  When it conducts, it drops the Voltage across the 
>*>gas, the Voltage dependant upon the length of the gas column.
>*>
>*>Don't worry about threatening you with physics, I'll  hide also<G>.
>*>
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