Neon Lights Research Paper

Discovered in 1898, the element neon has helped produce a staple of American cities and everyday night life: neon lights. Neon was first proved to exist by William Ramsay and Morris Travers of London, who decided to name the newly discovered element after the Greek word neos, or new. This finding was “vital in proving the existence of isotopes” (McCormick 1). The Periodic Table of Elements shows neon on the farthest right column, meaning it belongs to the noble gas family. As a part of the noble gases, neon is chemically inert, meaning it’s very hard to get it to easily react with other elements. This is because neon has ten electrons, and consists of five electron pairs, making it very stable. It is for this reason there are currently …show more content…
The variety of deep colors appealed to the public eye, as well as the longevity of the tubes. And as far as the actual light itself, it was very adequate, and overall presented to a business a colorful and useful method of advertisement. However, the lights produced an irritating flickering that caused headaches and eye strains. Neon lamps were also not able to produce a focused beam like flashlights and produced an ugly yellow-green hue on video. Many lamps contain small amounts of mercury, which is now considered to be a biohazard. Lamps seemed to only serve a function of a purely decorational light with many …show more content…
When voltage is applied to the electrodes containing the inert gas, light glows. The glow is produced when the voltage accelerates electrons to their maximum kinetic energy, and can only be produced when “the voltage is larger than the energy required to ‘ionize’ the atom” (Schiff 2). Voltage causes electrons to get taken out of their orbitals, resulting in the atoms they leave becoming positive ions. The “excited” electrons and charged ions form plasma, which provides a medium for the electric current to travel