Neon is a colorless, odorless gas under normal conditions. But when it’s pumped into a tube and zapped with electricity, it glows a bright red-orange. The glowing is caused by the excitation of neon’s electrons. Neon is a member of the noble gases group 18, which also includes helium, argon, krypton and xenon. These are elements with very low chemical reactivity and no known stable compounds.
When you make a neon sign, you fill a glass tube with gas like neon, argon or krypton at very low pressure. Then you connect one end of the tube to a negative electrode, and the other end to a positive electrode. When you apply a high voltage across the electrodes, the gas ionizes. That means the negative electrons in the neon are accelerated to such a high energy state that they leave their parent atom and become positively charged ions. The free electrons in the neon then whizz around the tube, bumping into other atoms and emitting light in a process called luminescence.
Eric and Gregg work at a company that makes neon signs. They explain that there is a lot of artistic design involved, but it’s also very science-based work. The first step is to clear out the tubes of air and moisture by a vacuum pump, then zap them with a high voltage. The ionized gas has more energy than the surrounding neutral gas, so it emits light. The process takes a long time, but the result is worth it: beautiful, glowing neon signs.
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