Wikijunior:How Things Work/Fluorescent Light
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A fluorescent light consists of a tube containing a gas and special coating on the inside surface. A coil inside the tube is then heated and emits electrons which collide with the atoms of gas inside the tube. This produces invisible ultraviolet rays which when contacting the phosphor coating on the tube turn into visible light which is what we eventually see. Traditional fluorescent bulbs are the long tubes that one typically sees in overhead building lighting, but compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) are becoming more common and are starting to replace incandescent light bulbs in everyday lights in our homes. Fluorescent lights are much more efficient than incandescent ones because they only produce the white light we want and do not produce all of the heat associated with incandescent bulbs (which glow because they are hot).
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