Tuesday, October 25, 2011

What chemicals are in a lightbulb?

A colleague was changing an oyster lightbulb a few days ago and was scalded by liquid that came out of it. It had rained heavily a few days before, would it have been rain water or would there have been other chemicals? She was burnt badly enough to be hospitalised, and transferred to a burns unit.
What chemicals are in a lightbulb?
Kosta missed the mark by a little.

Incandescent bulbs do contain a small amount of gas. Usually Argon, the most available and cheapest inert gas. Used to provide some pressure which slows evaporation of the filament.

%26quot;Energy saving%26quot; are fluorescent and do contain some Mercury. It can condense to a liquid but the amount that is there is so small you would have difficulty finding it. I have never heard of using Neon in a fluorescent light. Argon is much cheaper.

Sodium lights have Sodium metal but in vapor form when on and would not be present as a liquid.

Halogen lights are incandescent lights that operate at higher temperatures and do contain halogen gases. These are Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine and Iodine. None would come out as a liquid.
What chemicals are in a lightbulb?
no commercially available light globe contains liquid only gas.

energy saving light globes contain mercury gas.

and fluorescent light globes have neon gas.

while modern incandecent light globes contain no gas internaly

while the more efficient halogen globes contain yet again halogen gas
What the heck is an oyster lightbulb?



Do you mean one of those oil scented nightlights that heat the oil to provide a scent.



They have hot oil.
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