Both Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla experimented with fluorescent lamps in the s, but neither ever commercially produced them. Hewitt created a blue-green light by passing an electric current through mercury vapor and incorporating a ballast a device connected to the light bulb that regulates the flow of current through the tube. While the Cooper Hewitt lamps were more efficient than incandescent bulbs, they had few suitable uses because of the color of the light.
By the late s and early s, European researchers were doing experiments with neon tubes coated with phosphors a material that absorbs ultraviolet light and converts the invisible light into useful white light.
These findings sparked fluorescent lamp research programs in the U. These lights lasted longer and were about three times more efficient than incandescent bulbs. The need for energy-efficient lighting American war plants led to the rapid adoption of fluorescents, and by , more light in the U. It was another energy shortage -- the oil crisis -- that caused lighting engineers to develop a fluorescent bulb that could be used in residential applications.
In , researchers at Sylvania started investigating how they could miniaturize the ballast and tuck it into the lamp. Two years later in , Edward Hammer at General Electric figured out how to bend the fluorescent tube into a spiral shape, creating the first compact fluorescent light CFL. Like Sylvania, General Electric shelved this design because the new machinery needed to mass-produce these lights was too expensive. US inventor Thomas Edison is often credited with creating the solution in the carbon filament light bulb.
Yet the British chemist Warren de La Rue had solved the scientific challenges nearly 40 years earlier. Edison decided to try a carbonized cotton thread filament. When voltage was applied to the completed bulb, it began to radiate a soft orange glow.
Just about fifteen hours later, the filament finally burned out. Further experimentation produced filaments that could burn longer and longer with each test. Patent number , was given to Edison's electric lamp. The Edison lamp from our Attic is dated January 27, It is a product of the continued improvements Edison made to the bulb. Even though it is over a hundred years old, this bulb looks very much like the light bulbs lighting your house right now. The base, or socket, on this 19th century lamp is similar to the ones still used today.
It was one of the most important features of Edison's lamp and electrical system. The label on this bulb reads, "New Type Edison Lamp. Patented Jan. In the early s, Edison planned and supervised the construction of the first commercial, central electric power station in New York City.
In , Edison began construction of a new laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. Before he died in , Edison patented 1, of his inventions. The wonders of his mind include the microphone, telephone receiver, universal stock ticker, phonograph, kinetoscope used to view moving pictures , storage battery, electric pen, and mimeograph.
Edison improved many other existing devices as well. From a discovery made by one of his associates, he patented the Edison effect now called thermionic diode , which is the basis for all electron tubes. Edison will forever be remembered for his contributions to the incandescent light bulb. Incandescent Lamps. The most profound invention since man-made fire History of the Incandescent Light - Today.
How it Works. History and Developments. The incandescent lamp was the second form of electric light to be developed for commercial use after the carbon arc lamp. It is the second most used lamp in the world today behind fluorescent lamps. In this page we cover the traditional incandescent lamp.
Halogen lamps are also incandescent light sources, but they have their own page here. The traditional incandescent bulb is not just a light source but has become a symbol of innovation. It takes many to light a large area where as only one HID lamp can light a large open area.
Halogen incandescent is useful for this purpose but it is not covered on this page. Common uses: used everywhere for almost any application. From , W. Below: Video on the incandescent lamp. YouTube must not be blocked by your server. Incandescent bulbs work by sending electric current through a resistive material. Typically materials will glow before reaching a melting point. Most materials will glow a dull red color when they reach around Celsius.
Most materials will catch fire or melt and can not make a good filament. Filaments are made from materials that have a high melting point.
Tungsten can reach up to C before it melts. This is a higher temperature than any lamp will reach except the carbon arc lamp which gets to C.
Other materials have made good filaments or parts of filaments including tantalum, molybdenum, and carbon. Why does the material emit light when you pass electrical current through it? When you pass current through a filament material, the resistance creates heat. Atoms in the material absorb energy. Electrons around the atoms are excited and temporarily reach an orbital which is further from the nucleus.
When the electron orbit collapses to a lower orbital it ejects the extra energy in the form of a photon. Incandescence is thermal radiation. Heat is constantly emitted from objects around us, we just can't see it.
When heat gets intense enough it reaches wavelengths that we can see. It starts with red and goes up the spectrum.
This is also what makes the lamp inefficient. We don't use that part of the spectrum for the lamp's purpose, we only need the visible spectrum. This is a basic explanation.
More can be read about the chemistry from your textbook or online. The history of the incandescent bulb is centered on the development of filament types, so we will organize it by filaments. Platinum and Iridium Filaments: 's Humphry Davy created the first incandescent light by passing current through a platinum strip.
It caused a glow and did not last long, but marked the beginning of incandescent light development. Experimenters continued over the next 70 years to use platinum and iridium.
Frederick de Moleyns used a platinum filament in an evacuated glass tube to make a light bulb. It was only mildly successful due to a blackening of the bulb, which blocked light output. Combustion of the filament material and blackening on the upward side of the bulb was a frustrating consistent problem for early lamp inventors. The platinum material was also expensive.
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