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Arc Lighting Arc lights were used for lighting streets and other places where everyone could see them. It produced a very strong and harsh lighting. Edison and other inventors sought a way to divide the strength of arc lighting into smaller parts to produce something more fit for indoors. Incandescent Lighting As early as 1808, inventors had tried to use the principal of incandescence, which seemed to promise an easily controllable source of light. There were many attempts to use empty glass bulbs with glowing "burners" with heat, sealed inside. No one before Edison was successful in producing an incandescent light with a long life and low current. The problem was that the filament got too hot and melted when it was glowing. Edison finally found a way to keep the filament from getting too hot in 1879. How The Light Bulb Works An electric light bulb is made up of a filament of tungsten wire, wound in a tight coil. The passage of electricity through the filament heats the coil so it is to become white hot. The filament reaches a temperature of about 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit! The tungsten wire was chosen because of its very hot melting point because it will not melt as it heats up. What’s Inside A Modern Light Bulb The modern light bulb is pretty much the same as the first light bulb on the inside. Each coil of filament is made up of tinier coils than the first. The filament is then very long but also very thin. This arrangement increases the amount of light it can give off. |
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Can you imagine what life would be like without light?
I'm sure we would have lots of bumps and bruises! Well, right now, you
should be thanking Thomas Edison because he is the one who invented the light
bulb! It was well known that there were two approaches to electric
lighting. It had existed for most of the 19th century.
