A rare colorless, odorless gas was discovered in the atmosphere in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers. They named it neon, which is the Greek word for “new.” Neon is found not only in our atmosphere, but also in gases trapped in the earth.
Since neon is a first-rate conductor of electricity and since it has an amazing ability to give off light which can be seen at great distances, it is used most frequently in airplane beacons, in lamps, and in advertising signs.
The bright red signs we see outside shops and theaters are simply glass tubes shaped into letters or numbers and filled with neon gas. For blue neon signs, a few drops of mercury are added to the gas.
Neon lamps are made by removing all the air from glass tubes and filling them with neon. When a starter button is pressed, an electrical current is sent from an electrode at one end of the tube, through the neon, to a second electrode. This electrical current causes the gas to glow a fiery red. Neon lamps do not have filaments as are found in incandescent lamps, for in neon lamps it is the gas itself that glows.
Neon is produced when air is turned to a liquid under high pressure and at temperatures of about -200°C. That liquid leaves behind it a gas, neon. Even though neon is costly to produce, very little is needed to create that bright light. Only one quart of neon gas will light up 200 to 300 feet of glass tubing.
Pilots have reported seeing some neon beacons at a distance of 20 miles, when no other light was visible!
Related Posts
-
How do neon signs glow and What does the word neon mean in Greek?
Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert gas, first discovered in 1898 by the British physical chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers, who named the gas after the Greek word meaning "new."…
-
What does the term “Indian sign” mean and Where does the phrase Indian sign come from?
Evidently Frederick Webb Hodge, editor of the Handbook of American Indians (1907), issued by the Smithsonian Institution and still regarded as the leading authority on Indian life and customs, did not foresee that…
-
What is neon gas and where does it come from?
There's a little bit of neon in the air we breathe, so yes, our atmosphere contains neon. You can extract it by using a process called adsorption. That involves superchilling the air at…
-
What’s the difference between neon lights and fluorescent lights?
Both neon lights and fluorescent lights are long glass tubes with gas inside and an electrode on each end. Electrical currents pass through the gas from one electrode to the other, exciting the…
-
How Do They Make All Those Colors In Neon Signs?
The colors are actually glowing atoms, stimulated by electricity. It's pretty much the same as making the colors in fireworks: Stimulate atoms with energy, and they'll quickly get rid of the excess energy…
-
What Does the “No Pepper” Sign Mean at a Baseball Park and Why is Pepper Banned?
The sign "No Pepper" is seen in many baseball dugouts and refers to a game played to warm up the players. No Pepper Sign During pepper, one player bunts grounders and hits line…
