Oxygen helps make green and red light when it’s inside a special kind of glass called a fluorescent lamp.
Imagine you're playing with a toy that glows in the dark, like one of those glow-in-the-dark stickers. When you turn on the light, something inside the toy starts to shine. That's what happens with oxygen inside a fluorescent lamp.
How it works
Inside the lamp, there’s a special gas, and oxygen is part of that gas. When electricity goes through the lamp, it gives energy to tiny particles called phosphor. These phosphor particles then glow, some give off green light, others give off red light.
It's like when you shake up a bottle of fizzy drink and it starts to bubble and sparkle, only with light instead of bubbles!
The fun part
If you look closely at the lamp, sometimes you can see both green and red lights mixing together. That’s how we get white or other colors on our walls and screens!
Examples
- Oxygen inside a neon sign lights up in different colors depending on its energy.
Ask a question
See also
- What is Carbon and oxygen?
- How do Neon Signs work?
- What is hypoxia?
- What is Oxygen (O₂)?
- What is Light-emitting diode (LED)?