When you think of neon signs, you probably envision a long glass tube that lights up with a reddish-orange glow when electricity runs through it. These tubes are often bent into different shapes to create letters and brand names. They’re a common sight in many storefronts and offices and are used to draw attention to a business and help it stand out from the competition. The glowing sign is the result of an interaction between the gas and the electric current, but how exactly does it work?
Neon is a noble gas, meaning that it does not react with other elements or compounds under normal conditions. It is also odorless, colorless, and lighter than air. It can be found in the Earth’s atmosphere at a concentration of about 1 part per million and is commercially produced by cryogenic fractional distillation of liquid air. It has 14 stable isotopes and no radioactive ones. It is believed to form compounds with fluorine under certain circumstances, but these are not commercially significant.
In order to make a neon sign, the tube is filled with the gas and then an electric current is passed through it. This causes atoms in the neon to move around and hit each other, and this creates heat. Some of the electrons escape their atoms, but others gain enough energy to jump to higher energy levels. When these electrons fall back down to their ground state, they release energy in the form of photons of light. The color of the light depends on how far apart the electrons are from their original energy level.
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