Ionized Chlorine gas?

[rogerxd45]

ok so pretty much all the gases on the periodic table have found use in lights and camera flashes by ionizing the gases which gives off a certain spectrum of colors. (and by the addition of phosphors to provide different colors)

 

so ive seen

He

Ne

Ar

Kr

Xe

 

even Oxygen and Nitrogen

 

but i have never seen an example of Chlorine gas Ionized. i figure thats probably because the chlorine gas "might" react with the electrodes. ("might" im not sure if it would but being a halogen i assume it would react with most, but i assume not all)

 

but if you sealed chlorine in a vial with platinum electrodes it seems it could work....or carbon electrodes (which ever would prevent the chlorine from damaging it

 

 

now i know many of you will say "why?" well to that i dont have an answer. its just a question on first off IF it could be done and my second question is what color would the ionized gas be?

 

so PLEASE PLEASE dont ask "why?" and also please save me the fact that the cost would be too high to do in order to be feasible.....because i know it would cost more then other gases without providing and benefit.

 

this question is just IF it can be done and IF it was done what color would be produced. just think of it as a sort or if "thought experiment"

 

also if any one knows if this has ever been dont i would love to know

 

i understand why this cant be done with Radon due to its very short half life....but other then the chlorine reacting with the electrodes i cant see any reason this CANT be done. but if there is any other reason why it cant be done i would love to knoe

[Mr Skeptic]

Does this help?:

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/elements/Elements.html

 

Elements emit more than one color.

[Moontanman]

Try searching for the workings of metal halide lamps, they use the halogens to make light.

 

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4964922_metal-halide-lights-work.html

[rogerxd45]

Does this help?:

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/elements/Elements.html

 

Elements emit more than one color.

 

yes i am very aware of that, but to the huan eye it usueally apears, to e one color.

 

and halide lams work by lighting up the filamint just like a regular bulb, but when the tungsten particles get ejected off they form halides with the metal and will redeposit back on to the HOT filament leaving the tungsten and releasing the halide. and then the "halide cycle" begins again

 

the above is not a gas discharge lamp like a neon lamp but is a type of modified incandescent

 

EDIT TO ADD

 

SORRY I THOUGHT YOU WORE TALKING ABOUT HALOGEN LIGHTS

 

ill look more into the metal halide laps

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

ok after doing some research i found that the metal halide lamps are not what im talking about.

 

the MHL (metal halide lamp) use argon and mercury and then some form of a metal halide. which is usually a iodide and bromide metal

 

so back to my original question if you used like 99.5%Chlorine and 00.5% argon (the argon is used to lower the power ended to ark.

 

so would a simple 99.6% CL and 00.5% Ar light work, if it was to be set up just like a neon lamp that uses 99.5% neon and 0.5% argon, would it work? and what color would OUR EYES see the color as.

so in this light there would be no metallic halides or metallic bromides.

 

just plain chlorine gas and probably a small amount of argon to help start the arc.

Edited April 24, 2010 by rogerxd45

[John Cuthber]

It would certainly be possible to get a "chlorine lamp" in the same way you can get a neon lamp.

This trick might help

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrodeless_lamp

There are tables in the literature of emission spectra and they include chlorine so someone must have made the measurements once.

It's not easy to tell from those tables what colour the light would be.

[rogerxd45]

are there other metals that would work besides platinum?

 

basically i just want to make a gas discharge tube using a neon sign transformer.

 

i just need a conductive material that the chlorine wont attack.....or one that will react slowly enough that it will last for a while

[Moontanman]

Chlorine should be just as conductive as neon, the gas has to be ionized to conduct electricity, even neon has to be done this way. the electrical current ionizes the gas. Nobel gasses like neon are used because they are inert and do not corrode electrodes or the glass like other gasses would. You should be able to get the chlorine to glow for a short while until it corroded the electrodes, long enough to see what color it was. if you need to to work for longer platinum electrodes should work for a while. How long do you need the light to work? a metal that corrodes in chlorine the way aluminum does in oxygen should work. Does this link help?

 

http://www.springerlink.com/content/717847j4481306r8/

Edited April 28, 2010 by Moontanman

[rogerxd45]

i dont need it to work for long, but going through the effort of making it i would like it to last as long as possible without spending a ton of money on platinum.

 

 

what about carbon/graphite?

[Mr Skeptic]

Carbon tetrachloride, I suspect. Would probably pollute your gas with carbon.

[Moontanman]

I honestly don't know what to tell you, the link i provided shows it has been done but chlorine is so reactive not many things are gonna hold up long.