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mfb- t1_irde16k wrote

All components would have the same temperature. There are cases where you can have different particle types with different temperatures in the same place (fusion reactors have different electron and ion temperatures, for example), but atoms in the atmosphere collide with each other far too often (billions of times per second) to sustain any difference.

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kilotesla t1_iri92r1 wrote

An example of electron temperature being different in a more common, familiar technology is a fluorescent lamp in which the electron temperature is much higher than the gas temperature. That's part of the explanation of how it can efficiently produce UV to then excite the phosphor.

I call it a common, familiar technology, but it is rapidly on the way out now that LEDs offer better performance at low cost.

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