Rayleigh scattering on gases-questions

[ty1]

first question, would there be more rayleigh scattering on neon gas vs air?

im wondering if you have a tube of neon gas, and shine a laser through it, will the laser beam become visible? as opposed to shining a laser pointer around and only seeing the dot.

 

[DEvens]

first question, would there be more rayleigh scattering on neon gas vs air?

im wondering if you have a tube of neon gas, and shine a laser through it, will the laser beam become visible? as opposed to shining a laser pointer around and only seeing the dot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering

Going to depend on the parameters in the equation given there. Does Neon have larger or smaller average particle diameter compared to air? Does it have a larger or smaller index of refraction? If you find those, you'll be able to calculate the scattering intensity.