Why doesn't a fluorescent lamp implode and shatter ?

[Hurricane939]

Accoring to Wikipedia, the pressure inside a fluorescent lamp is 0.3% of the atmospheric pressure, so the pressure difference between the outside and the inside of the lamp is almost equal to the atmospheric pressure which is 1 bar or 14.7 psi.

Now according to this and this, glass shatters at an overpressure of about 1 psi, and sometimes even less than that.

So why doesn't the difference in pressure between the outside and the inside of a fluorescent lamp cause the glass to shatter ?

 

[russ_watters]

The article is referring to windows, which are flat. Arches (tubes)are much stronger.

 

[Hurricane939]

The article is referring to windows, which are flat. Arches (tubes)are much stronger.

So if the lamp shape was rectangular for example, would it shatter ?

 

[sophiecentaur]

So if the lamp shape was rectangular for example, would it shatter ?

Yes; unless the glass was very thick. The principle of using curved surfaces for vacuum vessels is pretty universal. CRTs, radio valves, dewar flasks . . . . .