History and Transition to LED Bulbs
– Before electric lighting became common, people used candles, gas lights, oil lamps, and fires.
– Alessandro Volta created the electric battery and the voltaic pile in 1799-1800.
– Vasily Vladimirovich Petrov developed the first persistent electric arc in 1802.
– James Bowman Lindsay and Warren de la Rue created one of the world’s first electric light bulbs in 1840.
– Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison worked on improving incandescent filament electric lamps in the late 1870s and 1880s.
– In the United States, incandescent, halogen, and compact fluorescent light bulbs will be banned from sale starting August 2023.
– The ban includes compact fluorescent bulbs due to their toxic mercury content.
– Disposal of mercury-containing bulbs in landfills poses problems.
– LED bulbs are becoming the preferred alternative.
– The ban is aimed at improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
Types of Electric Light Bulbs
– Incandescent bulbs consist of a coiled filament of tungsten sealed in a glass chamber.
– Incandescent bulbs are highly inefficient, with only 2-5% of energy emitted as visible light.
– The remaining 95% is lost as heat.
– Halogen lamps are smaller than standard incandescent lamps and require a bulb temperature over 200°C for successful operation.
– Most halogen lamps have a bulb made of fused silica or aluminosilicate glass.
– Gas-discharge lamps produce light through an electric arc in a gas, such as fluorescent lamps.
– LED lamps produce light through a flow of electrons across a band gap in a semiconductor.
– Carbon arc lamps consist of two carbon rod electrodes and have higher efficacy than filament lamps.
– Discharge lamps contain two metal electrodes separated by a gas, and different gases produce different colors of light.
Characteristics and Uses of Electric Light Bulbs
– Fluorescent lamps contain mercury vapor or argon under low pressure and are more efficient than incandescent lamps.
– LED lamps have low power consumption, low heat generation, and a long lifespan of up to 100,000 hours.
– Common parameters for comparison include luminous flux, energy consumption, luminous efficacy, color temperature, and color rendering index (CRI).
– Electric lamps are used as heat sources, in light therapy, to treat neonatal jaundice, as grow lights, and as fast-acting thermistors in electronic circuits.
Effects of Light Pollution
– Light pollution negatively affects wildlife, disrupts natural ecosystems, and alters animal behaviors.
– It can interfere with migration patterns, nesting habits, feeding, and mating behaviors.
– Light pollution also impacts the health of marine life by disrupting their natural light cues.
Cultural Symbolism and Related Concepts
– In Western culture, an illuminated lightbulb signifies sudden inspiration and is often used as a metaphor for ideas and creativity.
– Light tubes, flameless candles, and LEDs are alternative lighting solutions with unique characteristics.
– The regulation on ecodesign requirements for non-directional household lamps promotes energy-saving lighting solutions.
– Light bulbs have cultural symbolism in different regions and are used in logos and representations of new ideas. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_light
An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the socket of a light fixture, which is often called a "lamp" as well. The electrical connection to the socket may be made with a screw-thread base, two metal pins, two metal caps or a bayonet mount.
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| Type | Depends on type of light |
|---|---|
| Working principle | Luminescence by electricity |
| Invented | 1809 by Humphry Davy (arc lamp) |
| First production | 1879 by Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison (first demo of incandescent bulb) |
| Pin configuration | Anode and cathode |
| Electronic symbol | |
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The three main categories of electric lights are incandescent lamps, which produce light by a filament heated white-hot by electric current, gas-discharge lamps, which produce light by means of an electric arc through a gas, such as fluorescent lamps, and LED lamps, which produce light by a flow of electrons across a band gap in a semiconductor.
The energy efficiency of electric lighting has increased radically since the first demonstration of arc lamps and the incandescent light bulb of the 19th century. Modern electric light sources come in a profusion of types and sizes adapted to many applications. Most modern electric lighting is powered by centrally generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery systems. Battery-powered light is often reserved for when and where stationary lights fail, often in the form of flashlights or electric lanterns, as well as in vehicles.
