Why was the initial arc tube of Hewitt's invention necessarily constructed of quartz?
Answer
Glass would absorb too much of the ultraviolet radiation produced.
The quartz tube was required because standard glass material would absorb an excessive amount of the ultraviolet radiation generated by the mercury plasma.
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The Mercury Vapor Lamp 1901 - YouTube
Related Questions
In what year did Peter Cooper Hewitt first demonstrate a working model of the mercury vapor lamp?What was the characteristic color hue emitted by the first practical iteration of Hewitt’s invention?Why was the initial arc tube of Hewitt's invention necessarily constructed of quartz?What was the primary advantage of the mercury vapor lamp over incandescent bulbs for early industrial applications?What technological addition was introduced to convert unused energy into broader visible light, thereby improving color rendering?What percentage of electrical energy was converted into visible light by the incandescent bulb, highlighting the inefficiency the new technology sought to address?How did the fundamental mechanism of light generation in the mercury lamp differ from the incandescent bulb?Which operational quirk limited the appeal of mercury vapor lamps, especially in environments needing immediate relighting?Which subsequent technology improved color output by incorporating different metal salts directly into the arc tube, eliminating the need for a phosphor coating?Approximately how long after the initial 1901 demonstration did the mercury vapor lamp begin its commercial introduction period?