How does a strobe work?

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Energy is stored in an electrical component called a capacitor, then dumped into a lamp bulb that's filled with xenon gas. The gas that's in the bulb conducts electricity and produces very intense, sudden flashes of light.
 

Solvarex

Member
Jun 2, 2010
561
Canada
Fast LT1 said:
Energy is stored in an electrical component called a capacitor, then dumped into a lamp bulb that's filled with xenon gas. The gas that's in the bulb conducts electricity and produces very intense, sudden flashes of light.
Xenon is not a conductive gas until it is energized. A better explanation would be as follows.


The flash tube in a strobe has three wires - anode, cathode, trigger. The trigger is the coil wrapped around the exterior of the flash tube while the anode and cathode enter the tube at either end and make contact with the xenon gas. High voltage is applied to the anode and cathode but does not flow until current is also applied to the trigger. The trigger ionizes the xenon gas in the tube which then allows the current to flow from anode to cathode (or vice versa depending on which school of thought you subscribe to), producing an arc which we see as a strobe flash.
 

UndercoverVLS

Member
Jun 1, 2010
337
NY
Solvarex said:
Xenon is not a conductive gas until it is energized. A better explanation would be as follows.


The flash tube in a strobe has three wires - anode, cathode, trigger. The trigger is the coil wrapped around the exterior of the flash tube while the anode and cathode enter the tube at either end and make contact with the xenon gas. High voltage is applied to the anode and cathode but does not flow until current is also applied to the trigger. The trigger ionizes the xenon gas in the tube which then allows the current to flow from anode to cathode (or vice versa depending on which school of thought you subscribe to), producing an arc which we see as a strobe flash.


:shock: thats the super scientific way :shock: nice explanation though!
 

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