Dear Lynn: On Neon Lights
Dear [Lynn],
The buk of this post has been moved. Find it in the Tom’s Views –> What Determines Neon Light Color? piece.
Now radio and TV tubes glow with some interesting colors, because in some of them, like the mercury vapor rectifier for example, you have two electrodes suspended inside a glass tube. This envelope, is full of mercury vapor, just like in neon signs, where a current is made to flow through the gas, generating the light. However, the purpose of these tubes is not to produce the pretty blue light as it is in a neon sign. These tubes convert electricity from AC to DC for use by the other radio circuits. The light they make is just a nice byproduct of their operation.
LONG LIVE ELECTRONICS ! ! !
There. How’s that?