What is purple gas?

There's no naturally occurring gas that's inherently purple. The color purple we see in gases is almost always due to light emission from excited atoms or molecules within the gas. The gas itself is colorless, but the light it emits is purple.

To understand this, consider these examples:

  • Iodine vapor: When heated, solid iodine sublimates (turns directly into a gas) and produces a purple vapor. This purple color isn't the iodine gas itself; it's the light emitted by iodine molecules as they transition between energy levels.

  • Certain noble gases in discharge tubes: Noble gases like argon or neon, when subjected to a high voltage, will emit light. Depending on the gas and the pressure, this can sometimes appear purplish, though the usual colors associated with these gases are different (neon is often red-orange). A mixture of gases can produce a purple glow.

  • Flame tests: Certain metal ions, when introduced into a flame, cause the flame to emit colored light. Some metallic compounds can produce a purplish flame, but this is again due to the excited metal atoms releasing photons of light, not the gas being inherently purple.

In short, while we might see purple gas, it's usually a result of light emitted by excited particles within a gas, not the inherent color of the gas itself. There is no single "purple gas" to discuss in the way there is, say, oxygen or methane.