Visible Radiation from the Low Pressure Mercury Arc
In this paper no attempt is made to give a complete analysis of the low pressure mercury lamp, but attention is confined to a few of the characteristics that are of most importance to the user of the lamp. A brief description of the physical construction of the lamps used in the test work is followed by a spectrophotometric determination of the energy distribution in the spectrum. Data on tube brilliancy and on causes of depreciation are given in their relation to photometric outputs, and some typical figures for tube life are discussed. The photometric distribution curves of both A.C. and D.C. lamps are given, both as bare tubes and as units complete with reflectors. The section on electrical characteristics gives some recent test data, and several of the most important reactions of the tube to ambient temperature are used to call attention to the factors to be watched during photometric tests. The concluding section gives briefly some of the conflicting phenomena that have contributed not a little to the present uncertainty about the reactions of the human eye under this light.
- Print ISSN
- 0096-6460
- Published
- 1927-08
- Content type
- Original Research
- DOI
- 10.5594/J10273