Gonna make a terrarium out of this light bulb
Moakmeister

Gonna make a terrarium out of this light bulb

From what I know, the gas inside light bulbs is toxic. If the material is porous you might have residue.
 
@efmp1987 Most light bulbs use Argon in them to displace oxygen to prevent the filaments from burning out. You shouldn't inhale it because it is heavier than air and will settle in the bottom of the lungs cutting down on oxygen intake. If you inhale too much you can suffocate. As long as you don't do that it dissipates pretty quickly and is not harmful as it is otherwise unreactive. When I worked at the titanium plant we used it to prevent the raw titanium sponge from absorbing moisture from the air. Since it is non-reactive it doesn't affect the grade of the metal when used this way.

Fluorescent lights usually contain small amounts of mercury and should not but used for anything unless you ensure the mercury has been removed.
 
@Moakmeister Halogen lights do use halogen gas which allows you to run them hotter than regular incandescent bulbs. This allows them to give off more light. Because it is a more expensive gas a full-size bulb (like a lamp or house bulb) usually has a smaller bulb inside the main one about the size of a flashlight bulb containing the halogen and filament (like this one). Guessing by the shape of the bulb in your photo, unless it had the smaller bulb in the part you removed, I'm thinking it is a regular incandescent bulb a lot of which use Argon (pretty common because it's a cheap gas) but could also use several other most of the inert gases (some more common than others).

I read a great book a year or so ago called: Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks (who did awesome things as a neurologist). In it, he talks about his uncle who makes light bulbs and all kinds of chemistry stuff he learned as a child. Another book that he wrote was The Man That Mistook His Wife For A Hat which I also found fascinating. Check them out should you feel inclined. :D
 

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Moakmeister
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