Mechanisms of Neon Light

The process of making neon lights first begins by making the glass tubes. Though it seems simple, the tubes are often made by hand, combining modern technologies with age old glassblowing skill to properly shape the glass into the desired contours. These tubes can be straight, curved, or any combination of those adjectives to make any sort of symbol or letter, as evidenced by their popularity in hotel and bar signs all over the world. Once the glass is actually formed, all air is removed from the inside of the tube, which then creates a vacuum ready to be filled.

The glass tubes, once they're emptied of all air and a vacuum is created inside of them, are back-filled with two separate gases. One gas is neon, which shows up red when charged with electricity. The other gas is argon, which shows up blue when given the same, electrified treatment. The inside or even the outside of the glass tubes can be coated with chemicals or paints to filter the escaping light so that the glow will take on a variety of different colors, but those are the colors represented by the gases that make up the basics of neon lights.

Once the tubes are filled, electrodes are attached at the two ends. The tubes are electrically charged to test that the gases inside them give off the proper color and that there are no flaws in the glass. The atoms of the gases, both neon and argon, will always try to move towards the positively charged end of the tube. That motion, collision and scattering when stimulated by the electricity is what causes the infamous glow of neon lights.