Neon is a rare atmospheric gas, used to make brightly lit signs and other electronic devices. It is odorless, clear and doesn’t react with anything. When it’s exposed to electricity, it glows orange-red. Neon is also found in Geiger counters and as a cryogenic refrigerant.
The chemical element neon was discovered in 1898 by two chemists, William Ramsay and Morris Travers. Ramsay had already been searching for an element between helium and argon. They were using a technique called atomic discharge to study the composition of canal rays, channeled streams of ions that were passing through magnetic and electric fields. When the ions passed through a neon atom, it deflected from the original path of the ions and left a glowing patch on a photographic plate. The blaze of crimson light that resulted “tells its own story and was a sight to dwell upon and never forget,” Travers later wrote, according to the American Heritage Dictionary. Ramsay and Travers were quick to discover that neon produces a brilliant red-orange glow when it is subjected to an electric discharge in a tube, which they began to use to make advertising signs.
Georges Claude was the first to make the neon tube popular in 1910. He made glass tubes that glowed when exposed to a few thousand volts of electricity. It is still the most common method of making neon signs. The glowing tubes are often painted with a reddish-orange color and then mounted on the wall. The electrical wiring is hidden in a concealed metal housing.
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