The first incandescent light dates back to 1802, when English chemist Humphrey Davy “passed a current through a platinum wire” [4]. Davy then saw the platinum wire glow and produce a fleeting light. However, the light was neither bright nor long lasting enough to be a reliable light source [4].
In February 1879, English chemist Joseph Swan (Figure 4) created the first practical light bulb. Swan build the light bulb based on English scientist Warren De La Rue’s idea of enclosing the filament wire in a vacuumed tube, which improved the longevity of the filament by preventing it from oxidizing [4]. Swan also
Figure 4: Joseph Swan reduced the cost of the light bulb by using a much cheaper material, carbon, for the filament so that general
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Tungsten, a metal commonly used for filaments, and cement, a binder material, are mixed up in a container and then “pulled through a die — a shaped orifice —into a fine wire” [7]. Next, to produce coiled shaped filament, the wire is curved around a pen shaped metal bar named mandrel [7]. Then, the wire is heated to be softer and properly shaped [7]. At the end, to separate the wire from the mandrel, acid is used to dissolve the mandrel [7].
Figure 16: Manufacturing Process of Filaments
3.3 Assembly of Parts
First, clamp a conducting wire to each end of the filament and then mount the conducting wires to a glass support [7]. Next, vacuum the bulb and fill it with a mix of argon and nitrogen gas [7]. Then, seal the base and the bulb, with two conducting wires connected to the two electrical contacts on the base respectively [7]. Finally, test if the light bulbs work properly and then ship them to customers [7]. 4.0 Using a Light Bulb
4.1 How to Use a Light Bulb
Make sure to turn off the power. If the light bulb is controlled by a switch, turn the switch off [11]. If the lamp is plugged into the wall, unplug it
In 1895, Professor Wilhelm C. Roentgen, a German physicist, was working with a cathode ray tube, much like our fluorescent light bulb. The tube consisted of positive and negative electrodes encapsulated in a glass envelope. On November 8, 1895, Roentgen was conducting experiments in his lab on the effects of cathode rays. He evacuated all the air from the tube and passed a high electric voltage through it after filling it with a special gas. When he did this, the tube began to give off a fluorescent glow. Roentgen then shielded the tube with heavy black paper and discovered a green colored fluorescent light could be seen coming from a screen located a few feet away from the tube.
Controlling chemiluminescent light was how Omniglow Incorporated became the first company to produce light sticks. In 1986, when the first light stick was invented, scientists thought they could make a lot of money selling light sticks. However, since they had to make light sticks by hand, it was harder for them to produce very many of them. Until machines were invented to make light sticks, it cost too much money to make them by hand.
So he had to face the fact he had to invent something that can handle so much energy without that much copper and wire.so that was suitable for small houses to use the light bulb. As many times they took to make the light bulb was tested more than 3,000 times. He also had tested many metals to make the light bulb. He also tested more than 4,000 plants to handle the filament material. While he had tried to figure that out he had extra help with a group of scientists he was working with for 40 years to make the light bulb
Instead, most of his inventions were made using electrical energy. In 1878 he dedicated almost two and half years of his life to invent incandescent electric lighting. He was granted a patent for the famous light bulb in 1880. That same year he founded the Edison Illuminating Company and then left Menlo Park to travel around the globe. He visited different cities, offering his consultation services to local union councils and electrical companies on how to implement electrical systems.
In doing so, their strong focus enabled the company to create significant innovations. Continuing on, Philips also became a leader in industrial research by creating physics and chemistry labs to address both production and scientific problems. The labs developed a tungsten metal filament bulb that brought great commercial success. Philips simple structure and significant innovations gave them the financial support they needed to compete in a time period where competitors were seeking major growth.
The light bulb is the way we see in the dark, the way we find our way, the way we know when to go at a stoplight. How did Thomas Edison achieve this invention? Knowledge. Knowledge of electricity and the needs of those around him. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan claims that she wants her daughter to be “a beautiful little fool.” In other words Daisy is saying that ignorance is bliss. Some others believe that knowledge is power. The advancement from candles to light bulbs changed the culture entirely. People could easily do the work they needed to after sunset, and it even led to more inventions. We need knowledge to advance, and for this reason powerful knowledge is more valid than blissful ignorance.
Williams, B. 1999. A History of Light and Lighting. [online] Available at: http://www.mts.net/~william5/history/hol.htm [Accessed: 5 Jan 2014].
Light advancement of the gaslight and electric light, particularly drew concern since light without wicks deviated from people’s understanding of normal light and in the case of the light bulb, light without flame invoked the same curiosity and confusion. Furthermore, gaslights generated a fear of gas poisoning, contamination, pollution, and explosion. For instance, a gas explosion in Paris in 1862 and another in London in 1865 heightened people’s fear of the gas lighting system. As a result, decided approval by the gas industry and commissions established by these governments attempted to reassure the public that this light method was safe and effective. In addition, the conversation between a couple and a man about electric light in a theater described at the end of “The Lamp” illustrates the ignorance members of the public had in regards to artificial lighting technology.
Carbon fibers were discovered in the late 1800s by Thomas Edison. The early lightbulbs Edison created used the carbon fibers as filaments. These carbon fibers used to create the early lightbulbs had a substantial tolerance to heat, but they lacked the tensile strength of modern carbon fibers. Edison used cellulose-based materials, such as cotton or bamboo, to make his carbon fibers. He used a method called “pyrolysis” to cook the bamboo at high temperatures in a controlled atmosphere to carbonize bamboo filaments, making them fire-resistant and capable of enduring intense heat needed for luminescence.
...ire. When the switch in the center of the hot wire is crossed it must touch both the blue and hot wire. To make the cross switch work you must make sure that when you cross the switch in the center of the hot wire and cross the switch in the center of the blue wire that they both are touching both wires, only then will the four-way switch work. The switches must be made in a way that they make a complete circuit. The electric cells in the battery will cause the electrons to then travel from the negatively charged electricity to power the light. Once it has touched the filament witch is a metal it will conduct electricity. The melting point of 6,580 degrees F happens inside the light bulb when it is turned on. The electricity then continues to travel through the neutral wire so that the energy can go back to the power source or battery and complete the circuit.
In 1879, after spending $40,000, and performing 1,200 experiments, he succeeded. He made a light bulb using carbonized filaments from cotton thread. Carbonized thread is ordinary cotton sewing thread that has been burned to an ash. The light bulb burned for two days. The electric light took the greatest amount of time and required the most complicated experiments of all his experiments.
The history of engineering goes back into the 19th century when Alexander Volta (1745-1827) made a remarkable discover regarding the nature of electricity (Cosgrove 749). He discovered that electrical current could be controlled and could flow from one point to another. By the time the mid-19th century came about the rules for electricity were being established. During this time electromagnetic induction was discovered by Michael Faraday who lived from 1791 to 1867 (749). Also during this time Samuel Morris invented the telegraph in 1837 which relies on the principles of electromagnetic induction (749). Alexander Graham Bell, who lived from 1847 to 1922, created the telephone which also uses electricity in order to operate (749). Through the success of the telephone, Bell Telephone Company was established. In 1878, the light bulb was finally invented by Thomas Edison who lived from 1847 to 1931 (749). Off the principles of Faraday’s electric motor from 1821, Nicholas Tesla invented a more efficient and powerful electric motor in 1888 (749). To make these inventions be more significant, effort was expended to make better motors and transformers and to enhance the power needed to make them function. Through these inventions during the middle 19th century, it led to the capability of lighting homes and cities through the use of electricity, and it also led to the creation of the telephone communication system (750).
Thomas Alva Edison is a very well-known American inventor. He invented about 1093 devices that influenced us greatly, such as light bulb, microphone, telephone receiver, universal stock ticker, phonograph, kinetoscope (used to view moving pictures), storage battery, electric pen, and mimeograph. Edison also improved many other existing devices as well. In the period from 1878 to 1880, Thomas Edison began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp. Edison and his associates worked on at least three thousand different theories to develop an efficient incandescent lamp. In 1878, Edison built his first high resistance incandescent electric light. Incandescent lamps make light by using electricity to heat a thin strip of material (called a filament) until it gets hot enough to glow. Many inventors had tried to perfect incandescent lamps to "sub-divide" electric light or make it smaller and weaker than it was in the existing arc lamps, which were too bright to be used for small spaces such as the rooms of a house.Edison's lamp would consist of a filament ho...
Thomas Edison was another intelligent scientist that used the findings of Ben Franklin to invent a contraption called the light bulb. At the time of Edison?s findings, there was only gas and cand...
He starts to investigate how to create a light bulb that can last longer. Before Thomas Edison started making the light bulb, there were other inventors working on it, but no one could let the light bulb work longer. Eventually, on October 21, 1879, Thomas Edison’s light bulbs could work for forty hours. Thomas Edison and his team try to use the incandescent light bulb in the laboratory and at home. In 1880, Thomas Edison believed the incandescent bulbs could be produced and sold to the public.