How to Get Different Colors in Neon Signs
Neon signs have been available since the turn of the 20th century when Georges Claude, a French chemist and inventor, discharged electricity into a sealed tube filled with neon gas to make a lamp. This technology was quickly applied to make signs for advertising. Neon signs had their heyday in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's, but today it is a cottage industry and art form for a small number of craftsman. Making neon involves bending glass tubes, coating them with substances that produce colors and filling them with gases that give them their brilliant hues.
- glass tubing
- colored coatings for interior of tubes
- gases
- eye protection
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Instructions
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1
Make an orange-red colored neon tube by using a clear glass tube and neon gas
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2
Fill a clear glass tube with argon gas to produce a faint purple color.
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3
Create green-colors by using 100 percent argon gas with green fluorescent lined tubes. This same coating will give you an amber color if neon gas is used.
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4
Use a purple fluorescent-lined tube with argon gas to make a vivid magenta.
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5
Add a tiny bit of mercury to argon gas in a white fluorescent tube to produce a deep blue.
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6
Mix 50 percent argon and 50 percent helium in a clear glass, gold-colored tube to make a glittering gold neon light. You can use this same tube with 50 percent neon and 50 percent helium to make an amber light.