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Fluorescent lights use electric current to excite Mercury atoms, which emit UV light. The tube part of the light is covered in phosphorescent material, which is excited by the UV light the mercury produces, and emits visible light. The reason they glow is because it takes a while for an excited mercury atom to emit the UV light, and it takes even longer for the excited phosphorescent molecules to emit all of their excess energy and return to their normal energy levels, also called the ground state. The path of the energy is Electricity -> UV light-> Visible light-> your eye

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