David VanHorn wrote:
>
> At 12:13 PM 6/29/01 -0500, michael brown wrote:
> > > And, of course, my 100W GE light bulbs always seems to
> > > go pffffft right when I turn on the light switch. I am
> > > sure that GE designs the cold resistance of the filaments
> > > in such as way as to maximize the retirement payoff for
> > > Jack Welch
> >Part of the problem is that the vacuum "leaked out ;-D" the last time you
> >turned it off and it cooled, breaking the seal.  BTW I had a bulb around
> >here that got water in it due to a busted pipe in the ceiling and it still
> >lit up until the leak stopped and the bulb sucked air instead of water.
> >Pretty weird, huh?
>
> They don't actually have a vaccum.
> Argon or nitrogen I think, but there's no nothing there.


Low pressure nitrogen in most bulbs. It is less than
atmospheric pressure but far from a "vacuum".
Put a light bulb in a water filled container and pop
it? Should give a rough idea of the pressure inside.
-Roman

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