How is neon produced?

Answer 1

Neon lights can be confusing to those who don't know how a regular light bulb works.

Electricity passes through the gas or vapor inside the glass tube, emitting a glowing red light. Neon gas is inserted into the tube, as are other kinds of gasses that make different colors.

Mercury- blue light

CO2- white light

Helium- gold light

Neon-red light

Answer 2

Neon is produced through fractional distillation of liquid air, where it is extracted as a byproduct. When liquid air is heated, different gases in the air vaporize at different temperatures. Neon has a lower boiling point than other components in the air, allowing it to be extracted through this process.

Answer 3

Electrical current bombards the inert gas atoms with electrons, knocking some electrons out of their orbits, thus ionizing the gas atoms. These free electrons collide with other free electrons, sending them back towards the gas atoms. When the free electrons collide with the atoms, they are absorbed into the atoms, thus releasing energy in the form of light.

Answer 4

Neon signs are comprised of glass tubes that are formed into a design, processed, and sealed in a special way to allow electricity to enter into the tube while keeping preferred elements from exiting. Preferred Elements: Inside of each neon tube there are gasses, typically Neon, Argon/Helium, or a combination of these gasses. Argon filled tubes also contain a bit of mercury to enhance the natural blue glow argon emits on its own. When we break the gasses and elements contained inside of a neon tube down into atoms we have ourselves a party; providing that the atmosphere is just right. The "right" atmosphere for our Atomic party is a vacuum. Introduce Electric and let the controlled sparks fly! Transitions take place within the atoms due to of a series of collisions instigated by the constant introduction of electricity through the electrodes at each end of a neon tube. When a collision occurs between two atoms their electrons change in value. It is at this instant that the neon gases glow. Simply put we have harnessed and contained the naturally occurring properties that are displayed in nature. See the Aurora Borealis. To learn more about neon visit our Neon F.A.Q. section at www.empressneon.com or ask your own question about neon there.

Answer 5

By definition, the atoms of inert gases such as helium, neon or argon never (well, almost never) form stable molecules by chemically bonding with other atoms. But it is pretty easy to build a gas discharge tube�such as a neon light�which reveals that inertness is a relative matter. One need apply only a modest electric voltage to electrodes at the ends of a glass tube containing the inert gas and the light begins to glow.

It's much easier to explain why neon isn't inert in a discharge tube than it is to explain why it is inert to chemical reactions. The voltage across a discharge tube will accelerate a free electron up to some maximum kinetic energy. The voltage must be large enough so that this energy is more than that required to "ionize" the atom. An ionized atom has had an electron plucked out of an orbital to make it a "free" particle, and the atom it leaves behind has become a positively charged ion. The resulting plasma of charged ions and electrons carries the electric current between the tube's electrodes.

The photo (above) shows a gas discharge sign designed by Sam Sampere of Syracuse University. This sign incorporates a neon discharge tube (the orange word "Physics") and mercury discharge tubes (the blue word "Experience" and the outer frame). The sculpture at the bottom of the sign represents the electric and magnetic fields of light. The white and yellow sine waves in the sculpture are actually fluorescent lights. These fluorescent lights are mercury discharge tubes with special coatings on their inner walls. The ultraviolet light emitted by the mercury discharge inside a tube is absorbed by the coating, which subsequently emits light of a different color (and with a lower photon energy). Depending on the exact material of the coating, a whole range of colors can be obtained.

So why do these gas discharges emit light? As an alternative to being removed by an energetic collision, an electron on an atom can be excited. One speaks of the electron as having been promoted to an orbital of higher energy. When the electron eases back down to its original orbital, a particle of light (a photon) carries away the energy of excitation�and the discharge tube glows! A photon's energy (its wavelength or color) depends on the energy difference between orbitals. A given atom can emit photons at many energies corresponding to its different pairs of orbitals. This series of photon energies�the emission lines to a spectroscopist�is unique to a particular atom. As can be seen in the sign, the mercury discharge tubes have a very different hue than the neon discharge tube does. The inert gas helium was actually discovered this way, and observations of sunlight revealed a series of photon energies that had never before been seen in discharges on the earth.

The chemical inertness of certain gases is subtler to explain. Generally speaking, when two atoms come into proximity, the highest energy, or valence, orbitals of the atoms change substantially and the electrons on the two atoms reorganize. If this reorganization lowers the total energy of the electrons involved, a chemical bond can form. For ordinary, non-inert atoms, the electrons are relatively pliable and bonds often form. The electrons in inert gases, however, are relatively resistant to this proximity effect, so these gases very rarely bond to form molecules.

Answer 6

Neon atoms emit many more yellow and red photons than blue and violet photons. The many more lines in the yellow and red parts of the spectrum are what make pure neon lights look red or orange.

Answer 7

Neon and other noble gasses produce light the same way any other substances produce light. An electron in the outer shell becomes excited and jumps to a higher energy level in a higher shell. When it falls back to the outer shell, it gives off a photon of light. The mercury in florescent bulbs works the same way. Lasers work the same way. Neon and other noble gasses are used in so many applications because they do not react with the electrodes at the ends of the tubes. The noble gasses are inert. The mercury in florescent tubes or the sodium in sodium vapor lamps can react with the electrodes at the end of the tubes. This can make those lamps wear out much faster than neon lights.

Answer 8

When energy is given to the neon gas the electrons in its atoms become 'exited' and move up to a higher orbital (you could think of this like getting in a lift and moving from the ground level to the 3rd floor) As with anything what goes up it must come down, and as energy was needed to send it up to the higher orbital, energy is given out when it falls back down to its 'ground' level. This energy is given out in the form of a photon (a packet/wave of energy) depending on where it has come down from depends on the frequency of the wave and this in turn gives the colour.

In other words if an electron gets exited to the 3rd orbital when it returns to the ground level it will give out one colour and if it gets exited to the 4th orbital when it falls it will give out a different colour.

Science-teacher

Answer 9

Neon is an inert gas and does not react with anything to form compounds. This means all Earth's Neon is in the atmosphere and it is obtained by extracting it from air.

Answer 10

The same thing about these devices is that they both need an electrical supply to operate.