The Incandescent Lamp
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the history and technology of incandescent bulbs, which have been illuminating our lives for over a century. It highlights the evolution from carbon to tungsten filaments, discussing their affordability, pleasing color rendering, and direct usability without auxiliary gear. Despite their inefficiency—converting only 10% of energy into light—the script also covers the physics behind their operation, the significance of gas-filled bulbs for longevity, and the contributions of inventors like Thomas Edison, Sir Joseph Swan, and Marvin Pipkin, who advanced bulb design and light diffusion.
Takeaways
- 💡 Incandescent bulbs have been in use for over a century, starting with carbon filament lamps and evolving to tungsten filament lamps around 1910.
- 💰 These bulbs are cost-effective and known for their good color rendering, making them suitable for various settings like restaurants and homes.
- 🔌 They are simple to use, requiring no auxiliary gear, and can be directly plugged into household current without the need for a ballast.
- ⏱️ Incandescent bulbs typically have a lifespan of around 1000 hours, with some variations in longevity.
- 🔥 Despite their widespread use, incandescent bulbs are not energy efficient, converting only about 10% of energy into light, with the rest being wasted as heat.
- 🔬 The principle of incandescence involves passing current through a filament, causing it to heat up and emit light and infrared radiation.
- 🏺 The filament is sealed within a glass bulb, which can be vacuum-sealed or filled with an inert gas like argon to prolong the filament's life and prevent it from burning out quickly.
- 📈 Gas-filled bulbs improve efficiency and lifespan, and also reduce the blackening of the glass, maintaining better light output over time.
- 🤝 Both Thomas Edison and Sir Joseph Swan independently developed early incandescent bulbs, each contributing unique designs and bases.
- 🛠 William D. Coolidge was instrumental in developing ductile tungsten, which is crucial for filaments and electrodes in various types of lamps.
- 🌀 Irving Langmuir's innovation of gas-filled incandescent bulbs and coiled tungsten filaments significantly increased the efficiency of these lamps.
- 🌫️ Marvin Pipkin invented frosted and soft light bulbs, which reduce glare and diffuse light with minimal loss of light output.
Q & A
What are the two types of filaments used in the development of incandescent bulbs?
-The two types of filaments used were carbon filament lamps initially, followed by tungsten filament lamps around 1910.
Why are incandescent bulbs considered good for color rendering?
-Incandescent bulbs are good for color rendering because they give a nice color rendering, making objects lighted by them look good, which is why they are excellent for restaurants and houses.
What is the main disadvantage of incandescent bulbs in terms of energy efficiency?
-The main disadvantage of incandescent bulbs is their low energy efficiency, as only about 10% of the energy is converted into light, with the rest being wasted as heat.
How does the principle of incandescence work in incandescent bulbs?
-Incandescence works by passing current through a filament, which heats up due to its resistance, creating photons (light) and radiant heat energy (infrared energy).
Why are incandescent bulbs filled with gas like argon or a mixture of argon and nitrogen?
-Incandescent bulbs are filled with gas to exert pressure on the filament during operation, which helps it last longer, run at higher temperatures, produce more light efficiently, and reduce blackening of the glass.
What is the significance of the vacuum in the early Mazda lamps?
-The vacuum in early Mazda lamps was used to keep the filament away from the air, preventing it from burning out quickly due to the high temperatures it operates at.
Who were the two inventors credited with the development of the incandescent bulb, and what were their contributions?
-Thomas Edison from the USA and Sir Joseph Swan from England are credited with the development of the incandescent bulb. They both had unique contributions to bulb and filament designs, and base types.
Who developed ductile tungsten, and how has it impacted lighting technology?
-William D. Coolidge developed ductile tungsten, which has been instrumental in the development of not only incandescent lamps but also fluorescent and HID lamps, as they all rely on ductile tungsten for filaments or electrodes.
What was Irving Langmuir's contribution to the efficiency of incandescent bulbs?
-Irving Langmuir contributed to the efficiency of incandescent bulbs by inventing the gas-filled incandescent bulb and the idea of tightly coiling the tungsten filament, which made the bulbs more efficient.
Who invented the inside frosted and soft light bulbs, and what was the purpose of these inventions?
-Marvin Pipkin invented the inside frosted bulbs to reduce glare and the soft light bulbs, which are coated on the inside with silica to diffuse the light with minimal light output loss.
What is the typical lifespan of a tungsten filament incandescent bulb?
-The typical lifespan of a tungsten filament incandescent bulb is about 1000 hours, although some bulbs may have longer or shorter lives.
Outlines
💡 Incandescent Bulb Evolution and Principles
The paragraph discusses the history and characteristics of incandescent bulbs, which have been in use for over a century. Starting with carbon filament lamps and evolving to tungsten filament lamps around 1910, these bulbs are praised for their affordability, pleasing color rendering, and simplicity, requiring no auxiliary gear for operation. Despite their decent lifespan of about 1000 hours, they are criticized for their low efficiency, with only 10% of energy converting to light while the rest is wasted as heat. The working principle involves passing current through a tungsten filament sealed within a glass bulb, which heats up and emits light and heat. The use of gas-filled bulbs extends their lifespan and efficiency by applying pressure on the filament and reducing blackening of the glass. The contributions of Thomas Edison, Sir Joseph Swan, and William D. Coolidge in the development of bulb designs and ductile tungsten are highlighted, along with Irving Langmuir's innovation of gas-filled bulbs and coiled filaments for increased efficiency.
🌟 Innovations in Incandescent Bulb Design
This paragraph focuses on Marvin Pipkin, a significant figure in the evolution of incandescent bulbs. Pipkin is credited with inventing frosted bulbs that reduce glare by having an etched interior surface, a design still produced by some companies. Additionally, he developed soft light bulbs, which are coated with silica on the inside to diffuse light with minimal light output loss, typically around 3%-5%. These innovations represent some of the last major advancements in incandescent bulb technology, enhancing user comfort and light quality.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Incandescent Bulb
💡Tungsten Filament
💡Color Rendering
💡Auxiliary Gear
💡Incandescence
💡Vacuum
💡Gas Filled
💡Blackening
💡Ductile Tungsten
💡Coiling
💡Inside Frosted Bulbs
Highlights
Incandescent bulbs have been in use for over 100 years.
The transition from carbon to tungsten filament lamps around 1910.
Advantages include low cost and good color rendering.
Suitable for use in restaurants and homes due to their aesthetic lighting.
No auxiliary gear needed, can be plugged directly into household current.
No ballast required, reducing energy losses.
Average bulb life is about 1000 hours.
Inefficiency as only 10% of energy is converted to light, the rest to heat.
Principle of incandescence involves heating a filament to produce light.
Tungsten filaments are used due to their high resistance and durability.
Bulbs are sealed to prevent rapid burning of the filament in air.
Gas-filled bulbs increase filament life and efficiency.
Gas inside the bulb reduces blackening of the glass.
Thomas Edison and Sir Joseph Swan developed incandescent bulbs independently.
Different bulb bases developed in the USA and England.
William D. Coolidge developed ductile tungsten for Mazda lamps.
Irving Langmuir contributed to the efficiency of gas-filled incandescent bulbs.
Coiling the tungsten filament increased efficiency.
Marvin Pipkin invented frosted and soft light bulbs for reduced glare and diffused lighting.
Transcripts
Here is an incandescent bulb,
they have been with us over 100 years
we started out with first carbon filament lamps
and then around 1910 tungsten filament lamps
and we are still with tungsten filament lamps
and they have several advantages, several disadvantages.
Advantages are that they are inexpensive and they give a nice color rendering
objects lighted by them look good so they are excellent for restaurants,
houses, things like that.
They don't need any auxiliary gear
which means you can plug them straight into the household current
and you don't need a ballast so there are no loses from the ballast
and they have a decent life, some of them are longer life then others
but most are about 1000 hours.
the disadvantages are they are not the most efficient light source,
in fact only 10% of the energy makes light the rest makes heat.
How it works its a very simple principle incandescence,
you have a material whether be carbon or tungsten, tungsten is a metal,
that you place inside of a glass bulb and you seal them either in a vacuum
or you make a vacuum and then you fill the space with a gas like argon
or a mixture of argon and nitrogen and you pass current through this material
which is really a fine wire and it heat up, it's a resistor, another words,
the current can't pass through easily, so when the current tries to pass through the wire
it's forces his way through and it heats up the wire trying to do it
and in that case it creates photons which is light also why an also it gives off radient
heat energy as well which is actually another form of light, infrared energy.
The reason why the filament is sealed in a bulb is because if it were exposed
to the air it will burn up in a few seconds because it runs at such high temperatures,
so by put the vacuum in the bulb like the old Mazda lamp has,
it keeps the filament away from the air so it doesn't burn out
but with today light bulbs, you fill the bulb with gas
and the gas exerts a pressure on the filament when is in operation
and makes it last longer and it can run at a higher temperature
and thus produce more light more efficiently without shortening the life
of the bulb so that's the object of putting the gas inside the bulb,
plus it reduces blackening of the glass
because blackening goes to the highest part of the bulb.
if its base up will be here if is horizontal it will be here and if is base down
it will be here, so that the whole bulb doesn't blacken
like a vacuum bulb does and the bulb will maintain better light output
throughout life which is another advantage of gas filling.
Thomas Edison from USA and Sir Joseph Swan from England
they both hit on the idea of a high resistance filament at the same time
neither copied either's idea, both had their unique contributions
as far as bulb designs, filament designs, bases, etc...
in fact in England he light bulb ended up as being a bayonet base pushed in and turn base
which they still are today and then USA it was the familiar screw base
so they had their own individual developments
and then a little later on in history
William D. Coolidge was instrumental developing ductile tungsten
for the Mazda lamps which is still in use to these very day and not just
incandescent lamps rely on it but incandescent, fluorescent, all kind of HID lamps
because they all rely on ductile Tungsten for either filaments or electrodes.
so he developed ductile tungsten wire and then around the same time
Irving Langmuir came about with the idea of the gas filled incandescent bulb
and of course that was a great contribution for increasing efficiency
he also came up with the idea of [tight] coiling the tungsten filament
instead of the early bulbs were the straight wire filament
they coiled the filament in to a compact unit and eventually by the the 30s
they were double coiling them which is what this bulb has.
And by coiling the filament twice, it makes it very short and much more efficient.
And another person that is very instrumental, who is one of my favorites
is Marvin Pipkin he the fellow that invented both the inside frosted bulbs
that were etched on the inside to reduce glare from the bulbs,
which some companies still manufactures to this day and the soft light bulbs.
And they are coated on the inside with silica, to defuse the light;
With only about 3% loss of light output, 10% at the most in some lamps
but usually is about 3%-5% so that was probably
one of the last greatest developments in the incandescent bulb
that is still with us today.
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