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Fluorescent Tubes

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Fluorescent Tubes

Fluorescent lamps are gas-discharge lamps, they use electricity to excite mercury vapour in either argon or neon gas. This results in a plasma which then produces short-wave ultraviolet light. This light then, in turn, causes a phosphor to fluoresce, which produces a visible light. 

Fluorescent lamps are unlike incandescent lamps because they always require an electrical ballast (a device intended to limit the amount of current flowing in an electric circuit, sometimes called control gear) to regulate the flow of power through the lamp.

In most common fluorescent tube fixtures (normally 4ft or 8ft (120cm or 240cm) long), the electrical ballast is enclosed within the fixture. In compact fluorescent tubes and light bulbs, there may be a conventional electrical ballast contained within the fixture, or they may have the ballast integrated into the bulb itself. This then allows the fluorescent bulb to be used in normal light fittings usually used for traditional, incandescent bulbs.