A Classification of Light Bulbs
Since Thomas Edison’s illuminating invention of the light bulb in 1879, efforts have been made by scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs to improve the efficiency and practicality of it. Significant advancements and variations in light producing technologies have morphed light bulbs into technological and energy efficient devices that are used in everyday life. Contemporary light bulbs can be divided into four categories: incandescent, fluorescent, light-emitting diode, and arc lamp, each having unique qualities and characteristics.
Incandescent light bulbs, although deemed by many scientists as inefficient and costly on the environment, are still the preferred lighting source for the majority of residential, commercial, and industrial applications around the world. The simple design concept of an incandescent light bulb provides inexpensive manufacturing and distribution costs, giving incandescent light bulbs an edge over the technology of contemporary and expensive light bulbs. Incandescent light bulbs produce light by utilizing heat generated by electricity to illuminate a thin wire called a filament. The filament, often made of tungsten, is surrounded by a glass bulb, effectively neutralizing the limitations of the filament’s light producing capabilities in certain environmental conditions. One limitation includes the presence of corrosion inducing-oxygen in the atmosphere. Oxygen slowly corrodes the filament, drastically reduces the luminosity and longevity of the filament. To eliminate corrosive forces, the bulb is filled with an inert gas that surrounds the filament. Typically, argon gas is used in the bulb because it does not corrode the filament. Coated on the inside surface of...
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...ity of the carbon rods. Rods that are placed in close proximity produce a less intense light while rods that are placed farther apart produce a flickering light. Enclosing the carbon rods is a glass bulb which houses xenon gas and metal salts. When electricity is introduced through the carbon rods, the metal salts evaporate, enabling the production of plasma. Xenon gas stabilizes the plasma arc between the carbon rods, allowing for the light to have a greater intensity. Arc lamps are extremely energy efficient and should remain as possible options for use in industrial and commercial applications.
Since Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb in 1879, scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs have made significant advancements in light producing technologies, transforming light bulbs into technological and energy efficient devices used in everyday life.
Charles F. Brush and the Invention of the Arc Light. Charles Francis Brush is a well-known inventor from Euclid, Ohio. He lived from 1849-1929. Throughout his life he invented many electrical machines and gadgets. These inventions included the electric arc light.
When a gas is heated to immensely high temperatures, its atoms and molecules split. Electrons break away from their nuclei and flow freely. As these particles collide, they release great amounts of energy. It’s this energy that makes plasma cutting work.
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.
For new or retrofit construction, every choice can lead to energy savings; energy that is derived primarily from fossil fuels. The typical household LED replacement for a 60w light lasts about 50,000 hours. Pretending that an incandescent could also last that long, it would consume about 3,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy whereas the LE...
Light sticks work in a similar way. When you “snap” a light stick, the chemical in the glass capsule mixes with a chemical in the plastic tube and creates light energy. Instead of the chemicals used by a firefly, other chemicals are used to create a glow. The light stick that you can buy at a store usually contains hydrogen peroxide, phenyl oxalate ester, and fluorescent dye (New York Times Company, 1 of 3). The light stick will glow the same color as the fluorescent dye placed in it. In luminescence, the chemical reaction “kicks an electron of an atom out of its ‘ground’ (lowest-energy) state into an ‘excited’ (higher-energy) state, then the electron give back the energy in the form of light so it can fall back to it’s ‘ground’ state (Fluorescent Mineral Society, 1 of 2).
Arc lamps are rarely used in the modern world due to the dangers associated with them. The gases found inside of an arc lamp are pressurized at levels upwards of 30 atmospheres. This implies that if the lamp was dropped, shards could shoot everywhere at high speeds potentially causing harm to objects and people nearby. When Brother Kornhoer presents the lamp, he is bringing new light and therefore enlightenment to the world. Although, he is simultaneously presenting a new danger to the library. In fact, the arc lamp operator ends up having to put “wet dressings over his eyes” due to exposure to extreme brightness, suggesting that the light from science can be so revealing that it can cause harm (226). The scientific reinvention of the arc lamp brought both negative and positive, implying that scientific knowledge has the capacity to do the
Philips made a strong push to developing new technologies starting in the 1950s and 1960s. Upon doing so, the company also wanted to translate these technologies into products while adapting, producing, and selling these products within individual national markets. During this time period, most of the companies in the electrical products market were bring formed and racing to diversify. However, Philips decided to stick with what they knew best. They made only light-bulbs. 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].
Welding has been around since the 1800’s with basic processes, like the use of the oxy-acetylene torch. Then the process of arc welding came into play in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, when electrical welding became widely popular. Now there are many different kinds of arc welding with materials such as different electrodes, fluxes, and gases.
Before lights were placed on trees, candles were used instead. It is widely believed that Martin Luther, the 16th Century Protestant founder, first added candles to trees. He was walking home on a winter night while writing a sermon, when he saw the stars shining above the evergreen trees. He noticed how beautiful the view looked, and in order to recreate it for his family, he placed lighted candles on his family’s Christmas tree. An inventor named Edward Hibberd Johnson hired Thomas Edison, then a 24 year old inventor, who later created the lightbulb. After Thomas Edison patented the light bulb in 1880, Johnson invested money in Edison’s bulbs and later used them to fashion Christmas lights. He recognized that candles are a fire hazard, and lights would provide a safer alternative. Johnson wired 80 light bulbs of three colors and strung them around his tree. The beautiful, bright tree attracted newspaper reporters and pedestrians who continued to come back each year. In 1894, President Cleveland put lights on the White House tree for the first time. The first set of lights was released to the public in 1900 and priced at $12 or $350 in today’s money. In 1914, the sale price for a 16 ft string of lights decreased to $1.75. Today, 150 million light sets are sold, and 80 million homes are decorated each year which equates to 6% of the United State’s electrical load each
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.
Edison is most famous for the development of the first electric light bulb. Like I said Edison was born into a time where America wasn’t very developed. He was born, and electricity had not been developed. But thanks to Edison when he had passed away on October 18, 1931 whole cities were lit up in electricity. For electricity, much of the credit goes to Edison.
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...