h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Neon lighting - A842717
Author: Just an innocent bystander - U204844

Hi, here's my first Entry, I hope you find it useful. If I need to elaborate or clarify or just plainly rewrite let me know.

It might be worth it to toss in a paragraph on fluorescent lighting. I read this article and thought "Hey, this is wrong! The gas emits ultraviolet light which 'turned into' visible light by the coating of the glass." So I did a quick search to find evidence and discovered I was in the wrong. So, to avoid confusing ignorant know-it-alls like me, please describe who ordinary fluorescent lights involves low pressure mercury vapor, ultra violet light and a fluorescent phosphor. Basically neon lights with an extra step.

Nice entry, Bystander.

I'm just a little confused by one point, where you say:

"Coating the inside of the glass with a special powder. This powder serves as a filter that filters out the unwanted colors. They are available in many variations, allowing for different colors"

Now if you start with a pure red light, what unwanted colours can you filter out?

Also first person is not favoured in the EG so you might want to re-phrase:

"So, I can hear you think, how come I see so many other colors in neon signs ?"

A very interesting and informative entry that I am sure is destined for the EG.

SK

A fine example of how little we understand the things we see every day.

You are right. Neon lighting gives off directly visible light, whereas fluorescent lights are indirect : they generate ultra-violet light which is transformed into visible light by the phosphor coating.
Wouldn't an entire paragraph make it too confusing. Perhaps a footnote would suffice ?

Thanks for your input

The light we view as "pure" red actually exists of many different wavelengths, with red (around 633 nm) being the most prominent. By filtering out the unwanted wavelengths, you see only the ones that are able to pass the filter. It's the same as with sunlight which we view as white but actually is the result of all wavelengths in the spectrum.

Content's great , but



Please put in paragraph tags (,</P&gt around your paragraphs, it makes it look so much nicer, and saves some over-worked Sub-editor a job.





B

Fascinating piece of writing

I guess that's why the red neon tubes we have in the sign at work are clear, but the blue ones are sort of translucent.

I think it might be worth mentioning that neon and argon are two members of the 'noble' gasses in the periodic table of elements (the others being xenon, krypton, radon, and helium), and that they're called noble because for a long time it was thought that they were inert and wouldn't interact with any other element. Can any of the other noble gasses be used for lighting? I think I've heard of Xenon lighting.

In theory they all can. Helium's main production is for balloons; argon, krypton and xenon are too expensive, on the whole; and radon is radioactive (therefore, probably a bad move).

B

Is it Georges Claude or Claude Georges?

Now I'm not an expert, but if my memory serves me correctly: The colour of light emitted from neon has a very limited spectrum. The gas molecules are 'excited' to a higher energy state. When they drops back to their original state light energy is emitted. Because the difference between the excited Energy State and the normal Energy State is a constant for a given gas, you get a characteristic wavelength for that gas. For neon you get a little bit of yellow, a little bit of orange and rather a lot of red. No amount of filtering will produce any other colours. Are you sure that the powder is not fluorescent?

SK

I'm ashamed to say, but you are entirely correct, the coatings are fluorescent.
Not sure how I made this mistake but thanks for pointing it out.

It was Georges Claude though ...

Which means most of them are actually fluorescent lights, no?

Signed NAITA
Chairman of the Society for the introduction of a paragraph on the difference between neon lighting and fluorescent ditto.

So does this well-tossed spanner in the works mean that the article will need to be rewitten?

FM

Actually, I was planning on adding a short section on fluorescent lighting, but I haven't gotten around to it yet (work, work). I'll add it this week and then I hope it would be (kind of) finished.

JAIB

Maybe you could consider writing a bit on the element neon.

dpen2000

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't want to write something like "all you ever wanted to know about neon", I just wish to clarify "neon lighting", which - as the text explains - is not limited to the element of neon.

JAIB

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