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I've noticed that video games like Fallout 4 depict the plasma fired from plasma weapons as green. Is there a way hot plasma can look green in real life? I know some gases emit green light when ionized by a current, but is there any other way?

FeatAnalyzer
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  • Hey, @CuriousOne, why not type that into the answer box? – DanielSank Mar 09 '16 at 22:35
  • So there's no other way to get green plasma, huh? Darn. I like the green fire look. Closest thing I've found is actual green fire from igniting boron. I also found a similar question on the scifi stack exchange. One of the responses mentions Chernokov radiation, but I don't think that'll emit any color other than blue. – FeatAnalyzer Mar 09 '16 at 22:57
  • @DanielSank: No reason, really. Just bad habits. Thanks for correcting them. – CuriousOne Mar 10 '16 at 03:27

2 Answers2

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You won't get green from thermal emissions. The sun is emitting primarily green at 5800K and it looks white. That's because of the physiological response of our eyes. Higher temperatures will cause slightly blueish impressions, but green is not associated with a thermal spectrum. That leaves us with spectral lines... xenon-nitrogen seems to be one of the few gas mixtures that can emit a line spectrum that looks somewhat green. Having said that... a xenon-nitrogen plasma canon would be about as "effective" as blowing kisses. In short: it's just artistic freedom.

Having said that... there is a way to make really "green fire" chemically: boron. Just make sure that you don't produce boranes (boron-hydrogen compounds, which can be quite toxic). Boron and borates seem to be relatively benign and they are freely available, if I am not mistaken. I would crosscheck with the chemists about the potential toxicity and safety hazards before you try any experiments with "green fire" on your own. No need to rediscover somebody's old Darwin Award entry experiment...

CuriousOne
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I feel kind of weird answering my own question, but after some digging, I found out that it's possible to make plasma jets look green.

http://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/1/2/117/htm

http://www.neutronsources.org/news/scientific-highlights/good-results-obtained-with-a-novel-technology-to-produce-large-scale-neutron-converters.html

These links show pictures of plasma jets having been injected with copper and boron, respectively. This video also seems to show a green plasma spray in action.

FeatAnalyzer
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