The French industrial Engineer had concentrated on processes involving gases in 1902, he perfected the technique for liquefying air. In 1910; Claude invented the neon light, the forerunner of the fluorescent lamp.
The Glass Tube of a fluorescent lamp contains mercury vapour at low pressure. White phosphor coats the inside of the tube. When you switch on the lamp, electrodes at each end of the tube heat up and emit electrons. The electrons strike mercury atoms, causing them to emit ultraviolet light. When the phosphor atoms are hit by the invisible ultraviolet rays, they emit white light. This conversion of one kind of light into another is known as fluorescence.
The energy to operate the lamp comes from the electrons emitted from one electrode. These electrons transfer their energy to the mercury vapour atoms, which in turn transfer energy to the phosphor atoms on the side of the tube. Them phosphor emits this energy as visible light.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited