high-intensity discharge (HID) head lamps
- HID lighting systems use a special quartz bulb with no filament
- Bulb is filled primarily with xenon gas along with a small amount of mercury and other metal salts
- Bulb features two electrodes separated by a small gap (about 4mm or 3/16th inch). When high voltage current is applied to the electrodes, it excites the gases inside the bulb and forms an electrical arc between the electrodes
- Hot ionized gas produces a “plasma discharge” which generates an intense, bluish-white light
- Because there is no brittle filament inside a xenon HID bulb to break or burn out, the head lamps typically last up to three times longer than halogen head lamps (3000 hours versus 1000 hours of continuous operation, which is equivalent to 5 to 10 years of normal driving)
- Part of Speech: noun
- Industry/Domain: Automotive
- Category: Automobile
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Creator
- Johna04
-
(Bronze) 252 points - 100% positive feedback
(Detroit - MI, United States)
