Again transition of the electrons requires least amount of input energy from a colliding electron.
Low pressure mercury vapour lamp diagram.
As pressure increases the chance of multiple collisions gets increased.
The first mercury vapor lamps were in a lower pressure tube.
Fused silica is used in the manufacturing to keep the 184 nm light from being absorbed.
This coating covers more than 70 of the diameter of the lighted length of the lamp.
A sodium vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light at a characteristic wavelength near 589 nm.
The lamps can be constructed to emit primarily in the uv a around 400 nm or uv c around.
Low pressure and high pressure low pressure sodium lamps are highly efficient electrical light sources but their yellow light restricts applications to outdoor lighting such as street lamps where they are widely used.
In low pressure mercury vapor lamps only the lines at 184 nm and 254 nm are present.
The aperture phosphor coated lamps that jelight company produces employ the same basic design as the double bore low pressure mercury vapor lamps with the exception of a special phosphor coating.
In medium pressure mercury vapor lamps the lines from 200 600 nm are present.
Amalgam lamps use a mercury amalgam mix to control mercury vapor pressure.
One would tip the lamp and electrical contacts on each side of the lamp would send electricity through a liquid mercury which started the lamp.