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Exciting Electrons
Exciting Electrons using ELECTRICITY
Yellow street lamps give out light when an electric current excites the electrons in hot SODIUM vapour.
A high voltage is applied across a tube containing sodium vapour at low pressure. The passage of electric current through the vapour excites electrons in the atoms, and yellow light is given out when the excited electrons fall back to their ground state. This is the same reason that lighting occurs - the electrons is atoms are excited by electricity
A hydrogen lamp works in exactly the same way as a sodium lamp but uses hydrogen atoms instead of sodium. It gives out purple light.
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