What makes neon signs glow? A 360° animation - Michael Lipman

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: SF Huang

When the Hoover Dam was completed in 1936,

1936 年胡佛水壩完工時，

it created a huge source of hydroelectric power

它成為一個龐大的水力發電來源，

and zapped a sleepy desert town to life: Las Vegas, Nevada.

讓一個死氣沉沉的沙漠城市活了過來：

內華達州的拉斯維加斯。

With the power supply from the dam,

有了水壩供給的電力，

Las Vegas soon exploded with vibrant displays.

拉斯維加斯迅速地 展現出它燦爛耀眼的活力。

The source of these dazzling lights was electrified neon gas.

這些炫麗亮光的來源是帶電的氖氣。

There are two tricky obstacles to making lighted signs

使用這種天生無色無味的氣體

來製作發光的廣告招牌， 會面臨兩個棘手的問題：

out of this naturally clear, odorless gas:

capturing it and making it glow.

捕捉這種氣體及讓它發光。

French inventor Georges Claude came up with techniques to do both.

法國發明家喬治‧克勞德 針對這兩點想出了對應的技術。

In 1902,

1902 年，他開發出一種方法

he developed a way of liquefying and separating specific gases from the air,

液化和分離空氣中的特定氣體，

producing neon on an industrial scale for the first time.

成為史上首次以工業規模產製出的氖氣。

By 1910, he had come up with a way to trap the gas in a glass tube

1910 年，他想出 讓氣體鎖在玻璃管內的方法，

with a special electrode at either end, and neon lighting was born.

在管子的兩端接上特殊的電極， 霓虹燈就此誕生。

In workshops like Claude's,

在像克勞德這樣的工作室中，

artisans known as tube-benders made neon signs by hand.

工匠，也就是彎管匠， 會用手來製作霓虹燈。

The tube-benders heated small sections of a long, hollow glass tube

彎管匠先將中空長玻璃管 一小段一小段地加熱，

and quickly bent them into shape.

再很快地將它們彎曲成形。

After the glass cooled, they attached electrodes to each end

在玻璃冷卻後，他們 再把電極固定在兩端，

and removed the air with a vacuum pump.

用真空幫浦將空氣抽出。

Then, they passed a high voltage current through the tube

接著，他們讓高電壓的 電流通過玻璃管，

to remove any impurities on the inside of the glass.

目的是除去玻璃內部的所有雜質。

Finally, they pumped the neon gas in and sealed off the electrodes.

最後，他們會把氖氣灌入並封住電極。

When a neon sign is turned on,

當打開霓虹燈廣告招牌時，

the electric current causes some of the neon atoms' electrons to accelerate

電流就會造成一些氖原子的電子加速

and break free of their orbits, leaving behind positively charged ions.

並脫離它們的軌道， 留下帶正電的離子。

As these free electrons rush from one electrode to the other,

這些自由的電子 會從一個電極衝向另一個電極，

they collide with more neon atoms, causing them to ionize as well.

它們會和更多氖原子碰撞， 也造成它們的離子化。

When these excited electrons fall back to their normal energy levels,

當這些被激化的電子 回到它們的正常能階時，

their excess energy is carried away by photons, or particles of light.

過量的能量就會被光子 或者光的粒子給帶走。

All this happens in an instant,

上述這些都發生在一瞬間，

and the glow from the photons is what we see when we switch on a neon sign.

當我們打開霓虹燈招牌時， 看到的就是光子所發出的光。

Though it's common to call any gas-filled sign a "neon" sign,

雖然，充入氣體的招牌通常被稱為 「霓虹燈（氖燈）」招牌，

there are actually 5 different gases used in production.

但其實裡面有五種不同的氣體。

Each gas emits photons of a different wavelength when electrified,

每種氣體在通電時所發出的光子 都具有不同的波長，

which correspond to different colors of light.

對應到不同的色光。

Neon gives off an orange-red glow, argon glows a pale lavender,

氖會產生橘紅色的光， 氬的光則是淡淡的薰衣草色，

helium a dusty pink, krypton a silver- white, and xenon a light purple.

氦是淺灰粉紅色，氪是銀白色，

氙則是淡紫色。

These 5 gases can be combined with color-coated tubing

可以將這五種氣體 與塗上顏色的管子結合，

to create an electrified rainbow of text and images.

創造出通電後就出現的 七彩文字和影像。

Business owners soon realized how effective these colorful beacons

業主很快就發現這些色彩豐富的燈光，

were for attracting customers.

多麼能夠吸引客戶上門。

And unlike a light bulb, a neon sign has no incandescent filaments to burn out,

和燈泡不同， 霓虹燈招牌不需燃燒白織燈絲，

and can shine continuously for 40 years before the gas depletes.

在氣體用盡前能持續發光四十年。

By the 1930s, neon signs were lighting up storefronts all over the world.

三〇年代時，全世界的店面 都使用了亮麗的霓虹燈招牌。

Because of the glass tubes' fragile nature,

因為玻璃管本身易碎，

it usually wasn't feasible to ship them over long distances.

並不適合長距離運送。

Instead, most neon signs were created by local neon shops

大部分的霓虹燈招牌都是由當地

鄰近的霓虹商店製造和安裝。

and then installed nearby.

Signs with humor, personality, and intricate designs proliferated,

幽默、有個性、設計複雜的 廣告招牌越來越多，

no two exactly alike.

每個都不盡相同。

But by the end of World War II,

但，到了二次大戰結束時，

plastics had become widely available and inexpensive,

塑膠開始被廣泛使用且價格並不高，

and plastic signs supplanted neon as messengers of modernity.

塑膠廣告招牌取代了霓虹燈， 作為現代感的象徵。

Many towns removed neon signs they viewed as old-fashioned.

許多小鎮把他們認為 過時的霓虹燈招牌移除。

Today, neon sign production is only a fraction of what it was at its peak,

現今霓虹燈招牌的產量 僅是高峰時期的一小部分，

but the craft of tube bending lives on relatively unchanged.

但相對之下，彎管的工藝 仍然不變地延續下去。

New creations hand-crafted by local artisans

地方工匠手做的新創作

join survivors from the heyday of neon,

也是霓虹燈全盛時期後的倖存者，

hiding in plain sight in city streets around the world.

隱身在世界各地的城市街道上。