What is Xenon Used For?

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Xenon is considered a noble gas because it is not very reactive. In fact when it was discovered, it was considered to be non-reactive until more than 60 yrs. later other scientists found ways of combining other materials to xenon.

Xenon has played a very important part in lamp technology because of its capacity to emit full spectrum light. There are a number of other materials that can emit light, but none with the same spectrum range that Xenon has.

They were earlier only used in the motion picture industry because they were very expensive to make. Xenon arc lamps were huge and very fragile and also had a number of other problems with regards to the ballasts needed in order to maintain their output.

With advancements in science however, they have been miniaturized so that they are now used as automobile headlamps and flash lights for cameras. In fact, a little bit of xenon is also included in a number of other lamps in order to improve their light emitting characteristics and improve the lifespan of the lamps.

There are only two kinds of lamps that use Xenon, one is the traditional arc lamp, and the other is the newer flash lamp. The arc lamp is where a hollow tube made generally of quartz crystals is filled with xenon under high pressure, and also contains an anode and a cathode. The anode is usually sharpened while the cathode is not. When electric current is passed through the cathode, xenon actually does not conduct it and therefore does not burn, yet when the gas is ionized, it immediately conducts the electricity, and an arc of electricity is formed between the anode and cathode. The reason for sharpening the anode is to keep the temperatures low.

This arc is so brilliant that it can blind eyes, and emits light in the full spectrum. You get from infrared to ultraviolet light, and since motion pictures need this kind of light, they were the first ones to use these lamps.

Over time this design was improved upon, and miniaturized so that you get automobile headlamps that work the same way. A ballast is incorporated in order to maintain the wattage that goes to the lamp as the arc is very fragile and can collapse with minute changes in electricity.

The flash lamps is slightly different in that the gas is filled within a hollow tube, and when electricity is applied and the gas ionized, the whole tube of gas emits light. This is however just for a fraction of a second, and has therefore found use in camera flash lights.

Even with advancements in LED technology, there is nothing that comes close to Xenon lamps either in the quality of light produced or in the longevity of the lamps. As of now they are the best that you can get.

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Bathroom Cabinets

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Bathroom cabinets are almost a fixture in most bathrooms nowadays. Whether you call them medicine cabinets, or bathroom cabinets, they are one and the same. In fact many people go with medicine cabinets with mirrors simply because it solves two problems with one solution. It gives you a mirror for your bathroom, and also gives you the cabinet that you want.

When we consider whether we really want one or not, it is something that most of us don’t even think about. We’ve been brought up to keep the medicines in the bathroom and therefore we keep it there. In fact that’s the reason why the bathroom cabinet is also called the medicine cabinet.

Yet even if you don’t want to keep your medicines in the bathroom, you’d still want a bathroom cabinet. Unless you have the habit of leaving your toiletries lying around, you’d want a closed cabinet to keep it in.

Granted you’d not need a really large one, and generally a medium sized one would do. In fact if you are the only person using your bathroom quite a small cabinet would do. You don’t have to go for the big bathroom cabinets and mirrors that some others go for because you really don’t need it.

While the size of the cabinet differs according to your need, the fact that you need one does not change. It is principally for this reason that people tend to go for the large medicine cabinets with lights because you might as well get a big one and keep your medicines inside too. It’ll at least clear place elsewhere.

Most of us tend to go with the bathroom cabinet and mirror combination because of the space constraint that we have in the bathroom. If however you don’t have any such constraints, you can very well have cabinets elsewhere while you have a separate mirror above the sink.

The most commonsensical place would be under the sink itself which is why you get pre-made cabinets that fit there. And you don’t have to break the bank to get any of these. You get quite nice ones very cheap if you just look around.

What with globalization and all, you’re able to get products much cheaper than you did before, and if you are in the habit of buying online, you can get them even cheaper. Just spend some time searching around on the net, and not only will you get good deals, you’ll also get more options because you need not rely on the limited stock that your local store has.

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What Is Carbon Footprint?

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Carbon footprint is the sum total of the impact that a person, organization, or product has on the ecology. For simplicity of calculation this impact is calculated as the amount of carbon dioxide or its equivalent greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere. This can be in any form starting from land clearance to fuel used for transportation to even the day to day consumption of electricity.

Every person has a certain carbon footprint. There is no way that we can live in this world without having an impact on the environment. The difference is in how much of an impact we have, and if our lifestyle is able to offset this carbon footprint.

For example, even farmers in the third world do have a carbon footprint, because in many cases they will clear forest land to plant their crops. The only good thing about this is that this is done on a very small scale, and therefore their footprint is not too great. When the same thing is done on a commercial scale as what is happening in the Amazon basin, the consequences are catastrophic.

This is the reason why people have started talking about offsetting this carbon footprint. If therefore the same farmer planted crops or did something that is able to capture an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases that were released by the clearing of the forest, he has been able to offset his carbon footprint.

While people who have a small carbon footprint might find it easier, it is the larger consumers who will find this difficult. For example, an average American will release the equivalent of 20 tons of CO2 per year, and is the highest per capita output in the world. Compare this to the world average of around 3.8 tons per year, and you’ll get the picture. There are many countries where the average carbon footprint is less than 100 kg of CO2 per year.

Just looking at offsetting the carbon footprint alone is very difficult. An average American generates 1 ton of greenhouse gases out of his vehicular output. This alone will take up to one acre of trees to offset. If therefore you need to offset 20 tons, you need 20 acres of forest land for every American, and there’s not enough forest to go around. In the US, there’s only around 2.5 acres of forest land for each American which is why we all need to try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible.

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Repainting Furniture

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A number of people actually pay good money to get furniture when they have perfectly serviceable ones at home that only need a little bit of sprucing up to look good. This is especially true of wooden furniture, and below we will set out what you need to do to turn your old, sad looking wooden table or chair into a really chick one.

Whatever piece of furniture you want to repaint, make sure that you sand it carefully first. Some people say that this is not necessary, but if your furniture is old, and already has a coat of peeling paint on it, sanding it down to the wood is what will ensure that the paint stays for years instead of peeling off in just a couple of months. Use fine, 100 grit sandpaper for this.

The primer acts as a sealant, and covers all the pores in the wood. The difference in the quantity of paint that you would use on a piece of wood that does not have a coat of primer and one that has is huge. You don’t have to bother too much about this, as long as you ensure that you’ve covered the whole surface and don’t leave any gaps, you are good.

The primer generally dries out quickly, but in any case wait until it is fully dry before you apply the paint. Although using a roller makes it easy, the first choice should always be a brush. Rollers, even the better quality ones leave behind air bubbles, while brushes don’t, and in furniture, these air bubbles make it look really bad. Apply the paint evenly, and never break stroke. Start from one end of the furniture, and then move down. Don’t go back over a place that has already been painted unless that portion dries out. Doing this will only cause your brush to stick and make things even worse than they were.

Go over the whole piece of furniture once, and if you aren’t satisfied then go over it a second time. Generally two coats are more than sufficient.

Don’t start placing things on your furniture for at least a couple of days after painting. Even if the paint appears to have dried, there is every possibility that it will get indentations from objects placed on it, and if you don’t want this to happen wait a few days. If you live in a humid area, this may actually take more time, but that depends on the place where you stay.

If you’ve followed these instructions properly, you’d get yourself a brand new piece of furniture that costs you only the price of the paint. Of course some of it is hard work, especially sanding it down, but the results are well worth the effort.

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5 Ideas for Kitchen Curtains and Valances

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While kitchens are the most practical rooms in a home, most kitchens have their own sense of style. Decorating a kitchen starts with its curtains and valances, get yourself kitchen curtains of your choice and you have already completed the first step of kitchen decor. When it comes to spicing up your home, there are no hard and fast rules. Yes, current trends do make an impact, however the best kitchens are usually those whose decor mirrors the owner’s likes and dislikes. To help you with your choices, here are 5 kitchen curtain ideas.

Basic curtains for kitchens are ones that you don’t have to spend too much time in getting them designed and stitched. For example, a plaid material, stitched to fit your windows can look wonderful in a kitchen. All you need to do is tie up each curtain with a ribbon to match and you have got yourself adorable kitchen curtains.The next thing you could do is divide your kitchen window curtains into two portions, the lower half of the window with two ordinary curtains and top with valances for kitchen windows. This gives your widow an entirely different look.For a more country look, you could add kitchen valances that have single points on them or valances with country themes such as plaid materials and pine cones embroidered on them.For a modern and sleeker look, add metal curtain rods, making sure that your valance and your curtains below have a narrow but uniform gap in between. You can enhance the modern look by using curtain materials that are rich in color without any prints on them.For a more old-fashioned and comfy look, you could actually add three layers of curtains to your kitchen windows. Apart from the traditional kitchen curtains and valances, you could also add a third layer of curtains, these usually start from where the valance begins and ends on top of the bottom layer of curtains. These curtains are usually parted and frilled, giving your kitchen window a very old fashioned appeal.

These are only some basic ideas for your kitchen windows, however you always know best when it comes to your home. The first step is to consider what appeals to you and the second step is to go with it as nothing looks as great as original ideas.

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