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Light Bulbs
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Get Your Free Light
Bulbs Here
Today the light bulb is
one of the best devices
around for giving us
light but this simple
luxury was invented less
than 200 years ago.
Thomas Edison was the
‘main man’ when it came
to the design and
trials. A look into the
1800s gives us details
on just how the light
bulb became what it is
today.
Electric = Light.
Before the light bulb
was invented, people had
to use candles and the
fading sun during the
evening hours. Oil lamps
were also used but these
were mucky as well as
fire hazard.
The early 1800s saw
inventors looking for
ways to convert
electricity into light.
Sir Davy, an English
physicist, successfully
passed an
electric current
through platinum strips
in 1802. Unfortunately,
the strips evaporated
quickly and Davy was
unable to create a light
that lasted more than a
few minutes.
In 1809 Davy created
what would become known
as the Arc lamp. He made
an electrical connection
between two charcoal
rods connected to a
battery. The light from
this was very bright but
small.
For the next 50 years,
others sought ways to
lengthen the amount of
time the light source
would remain. In 1840
Warren de la Rue, a
British scientist,
placed a platinum coil
in a vacuum tube. When
he passed an electric
current through it,
light was formed. This
design was efficient and
the light lasted longer,
but platinum was very
expensive which made it
impossible to be
distributed on a
commercial level.
In 1843 Frederick de
Mulleins of
England was given
the first patent for an
incandescent lamp. His
design used powdered
charcoal. He heated this
material between two
platinum wires in a
vacuum bulb. |
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