Why invent the light bulb

We just turn it on without thinking about it. Fortunately, thanks to the invention of the light bulb, or incandescent bulb, we no longer have to!

Not the Swiss! Edison did it! It is thanks to Edison and his company General Electric that we can all use this invention. Because he develops the existing technology of the incandescent lamp in such a way that it becomes commercial and usable for everyone.

As early as , the English chemist Sir Humphry Davy laid the first foundation stone for the modern light bulb. He connected two carbon filaments together and thus produced the first arc lamp. It worked, but this bulb was far too expensive for common use because of the platinum used. So the research went on and finally it was James Prescott Joule who for the first time came to a result with electric current and electric resistors.

When current flows through a conductor with high resistance, it generates thermal energy and also light emission. Following this breakthrough, the task was now to find a material that was above all cost-effective, had a long service life and, above all, could be used practically in an incandescent lamp. In , Swan developed a longer lasting light bulb using a treated cotton thread that also removed the problem of early bulb blackening. They built their lamps with different sizes and shapes of carbon rods held between electrodes in glass cylinders filled with nitrogen.

Woodward and Evans attempted to commercialize their lamp, but were unsuccessful. They eventually sold their patent to Edison in In , Thomas Edison began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp and on October 14, , Edison filed his first patent application for "Improvement In Electric Lights". However, he continued to test several types of material for metal filaments to improve upon his original design and by Nov 4, , he filed another U.

Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways," it was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last over hours. The remaining energy is lost as heat. However these inefficient light bulbs are still widely used today due to many advantages such as:.

Unfortunately for the incandescent bulb, legislation in many countries, including the US, has mandated phasing it out for more energy-efficient options such as compact fluorescent lamps and LED lamps. There has been much resistance, however, to these policies owing to the low cost of incandescent bulbs, the instant availability of light and concerns of mercury contamination with CFLs.

Here at Bulbs. He could go to sleep any where, any time, on anything. Contact us at letters time. Still life of the first electric light bulb, invented by Thomas Alva Edison in and patented on January 27, By Jennifer Latson. Related Stories. Apple Pay Starts Today. The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance.