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Chemistry
of the Lightbulb
Still a Bright Idea
By Brian Rohrig
T
he fact is, we rely on the elec- for 40 hours, but he was determined These first lightbulbs were
tric lightbulb. Few inventions to do better than that. By the end of incandescent, as are most of the
have changed our lives as 1880, his 1500-hour lightbulb was lightbulbs in your home today. Incan-
much as this deceptively simple, yet ready for public sale. A mere 25 descence is the property of giving off
ingenious device. years later, his electric bulb had for- visible light when heated. The hotter
With the flick of a switch, we are ever transformed human life by illu- the object, the more energetic the
instantly bathed in visible light. When minating homes and cities all over light that is given off.
the power goes out, we scramble for the world. As you have probably observed,
candles and matches. But the charm a piece of metal glows if its tempera-
© NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
of glowing firelight soon wears off, ture gets high enough. As the tem-
especially when sports events or perature increases, the color of the
homework are in the plans. emitted light changes from dull red,
to orange, and at about 5800 °C, to
Edison’s white. A typical incandescent light-
bulb operates at a temperature of
invention about 2500 °C, where it glows with a
Although Thomas Edison was yellow-white light.
not the first person to patent an elec- Finding just the right fila-
© NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Thomas Edison
Without Edison’s improvements, with thousands of different
lightbulbs would last about as long as types of filaments. He was look-
candles. In 1879, he constructed a ing for one that would be both
lightbulb that glowed continuously Lewis Howard Latimer long-lasting and affordable.
MIKE CIESIELSKI
which cannot be seen but will still heat up
objects on which it falls. The globe of the bulb The answer appears on page 20.
is very large; this increased surface area
allows it to radiate MIKE CIESIELSKI
more heat. This
design makes the goggles in your classroom, examine the bulb descent lightbulb. Generating intense heat,
heat lamp very inside. It will resemble a typical fluorescent halogen lamps have been known to cause
practical, since its bulb, but with one big difference. It’s transpar- fires. Homeowners must take care to keep the
intended purpose ent. The lack of a phosphor coating means lamps away from draperies and other com-
is to give off heat, that the bulb emits UV light, with very little bustibles. Furthermore, since halogen bulbs
not light. visible light. It is this UV light that kills give off so much heat, their energy efficiency
microorganisms and sterilizes your goggles. gets low marks.
Fluorescent lamps
Since all incandescent bulbs give off a
Halogen bulb Neon lights
great deal of heat, cool fluorescent lamps offer Halogen bulbs, another type of incan- Neon signs are similar to
a much more efficient alternative. Introduced descent bulb, produce intense white light. fluorescent lamps, except
in the 1950s, they soon became widely They are commonly used in car head- that they contain no mer-
accepted for nearly all schools, offices, and lights, floodlights, and other applica- cury or phosphor coat-
commercial buildings. tions where very bright light is needed. ings. A mixture of neon
Fluorescent lamps consist of a sealed Halogen bulbs, as their name implies, and other gases within
glass tube containing a mixture of noble gases contain the vapor of a halogen (group the tube gives off colored
and a few drops of mercury that vaporize 17 on the periodic table), usually light when the electrons are
within the tube. When an electric current bromine or iodine. The halogen molecules DIS
C excited by an electric current.
TO
P HO
passes through the gas in the tube, some of act as chemical scavengers, picking up stray
the electrons of mercury become excited. tungsten atoms that have sublimed and Light-emitting diodes
Excitation occurs when electrons absorb depositing them back on the filament. The Eventually, both incandescent and fluo-
energy and temporarily achieve a higher unique ability of the halogen atoms to com- rescent bulbs may give way to light-emitting
energy level. As they return to ground state, bine with tungsten atoms means you’re not diodes (LEDs). The indicator lights on com-
the energy previously absorbed by the elec- likely to find black spots on the inside of the puters and the numbers on digital alarm
trons is primarily released as ultraviolet (UV) bulb. However, the filament of the bulb even- clocks utilize LEDs—light sources based on
light, a light with shorter wavelength and tually breaks due to uneven deposition of the properties of semiconductors such as sili-
greater energy per photon than visible light. tungsten atoms on the filament. con. For an explanation of how these durable
Because UV light is invisible to humans, Since the filament lasts much longer, devices operate, see “Light-Emitting Diodes—
the fluorescent lamp must convert it into visi- halogen bulbs are designed to glow several Tune in to the Blues” in the April 2001 issue of
ble light. This is accomplished by the white hundred degrees hotter than a typical incan- ChemMatters.
phosphor coating on the inside of the bulb.
When UV light strikes this phosphor coating, it Brian Rohrig teaches chemistry at the Eastmoor Academy in Columbus, OH. His most recent article for
is converted into visible light. Thus, unlike ChemMatters, “Matches—Striking Chemistry at Your Fingertips”, appeared in the December 2002 issue.
incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lamps do not
REFERENCES
give off light by heating any of their compo-
Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life; John Wiley & Sons: New
nents. That makes them much more energy- York, 1997.
efficient. Sacks, Oliver. Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood; Alfred A. Knopf: New York,
If you have a UV-sanitizing cabinet for 2001.