Artificial Light: Its Influence upon CivilizationLuckiesh, Matthew
History
Artificial Light: Its Influence upon Civilization
Luckiesh, Matthew
Electric lighting; Lighting -- History
The alkali metals, such as sodium, potassium, and lithium, do not color
glass appreciably, but they have indirect effects upon the colors
produced by manganese, nickel, selenium, and some other elements. Gold
in sufficient amounts produces a red in glass and in low concentration a
beautiful rose. It is present in the colloidal state. In the manufacture
of "gold" red glass, the glass when first cooled shows no color, but on
reheating the rich ruby color develops. The glass is then cooled slowly.
The gold is left in a colloidal state. Copper when added to a glass
produces two colors, blue-green and red. The blue-green color, which
varies in different kinds of glasses, results when the copper is fully
oxidized, and the red by preventing oxidation by the presence of a
reducing agent. This red may be developed by reheating as in the case of
making gold ruby glass. Selenium produces orange and red colors in
glass.
Silver when applied to the surface of glass produces a beautiful yellow
color and it has been widely used in this manner. It has little coloring
effect in glass, because it is so readily reduced, resulting in a
metallic black. Uranium produces a canary yellow in soda and potash-lime
glasses, which fluoresce, and these glasses may be used in the
detection of ultra-violet rays. The color is topaz in lead glass. Both
sulphur and carbon are used in the manufacture of pale yellow glasses.
Antimony has a weak effect, but in the presence of much lead it is used
for making opaque or translucent yellow glasses. Chromium produces a
green color, which is reddish in lead glass, and yellowish in soda, and
potash-lime glasses.
Iron imparts a green or bluish green color to glass. It is usually
present as an impurity in the ingredients of glass and its color is
neutralized by adding some manganese, which produces a purple color
complementary to the bluish green. This accounts for the manganese
purple which develops from colorless glass exposed to ultra-violet rays.
Iron is used in "bottle green" glass. Its color is greenish blue in
potash-lime glass, bluish green in soda-lime glass, and yellowish green
in lead glass.
Cobalt is widely used in the production of blue glasses. It produces a
violet-blue in potash-lime and soda-lime glasses and a blue in lead
glasses. It appears blue, but it transmits deep red rays. For this
reason when used in conjunction with a deep red glass, a filter for only
the deepest red rays is obtained. Nickel produces an amethyst color in
potash-lime glass, a reddish brown in soda-lime glass, and a purple in
lead glass. Manganese is used largely as a "decolorizing" agent in
counteracting the blue-green of iron. It produces an amethyst color in
potash-lime glass and reddish violet in soda-lime and lead glasses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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