BASIC SOURCES OF LIGHT

Electric Lighting, illumination by means of any of a number of devices that convert electrical energy into light. The types of electric lighting devices most commonly used are the incandescent lamp, the fluorescent lamp, and the various types of arc and electric-discharge vapor lamps .

If an electric current is passed through any conductor other than a perfect one, a certain amount of energy is expended that appears as heat in the conductor. Inasmuch as any heated body will give off a certain amount of light at temperatures above 525 C (977 F), a conductor heated above that temperature by an electric current will act as a light source. The incandescent lamp consists of a filament of a material with a high melting point sealed inside a glass bulb from which the air has been evacuated, or which is filled with an inert gas. Filaments with high melting points must be used because the proportion of light energy to heat energy radiated by the filament rises as the temperature increases, and the most efficient light source is obtained at the highest filament temperature. Carbon filaments were employed in the first practical incandescent lamps, but modern lamps are universally made with filaments of fine tungsten wire ,which has a melting point of 3410 C (6170 F). The filament must be enclosed in either a vacuum or an inert atmosphere, otherwise the heated filament

would react chemically with the surrounding atmosphere. Using an inert gas instead of a vacuum in incandescent lamps has the advantage of slowing evaporation of the filament, thus prolonging the life of the lamp. Most modern incandescent lamps are filled with a mixture of argon or krypton and a small amount of nitrogen. Radical changes in incandescent lamp design have resulted from substituting compact fused-quartz glass tubes for glass bulbs. These new, stronger-walled bulbs have made tungsten-halogen lamps, a variation of the incandescent lamp, possible. Tungstenhalogen lamps use the regenerative cycle of halogens to return evaporated tungsten particles to the filament, thus extending the life of the bulb. The high temperatures required to take advantage of halogens regenerative cycle made this idea impossible until the walls of the bulb could be made stronger by the introduction of quartz. These bulbs are filled with a mixture of argon and halogen (usually bromine) gases along with a small amount of nitrogen.

El ectric-discharge lamps depend on the ionization and the resulting electric discharge in vapors or gases at low pressures if an electric current is passed through them Representative examples of these types of devices are the mercury-vapor arc lamp, which gives an intense blue-green light and is used for photographic and roadway illumination, and the neon lamp, which is employed for decorative sign and display lighting. In newer electric-discharge lamps, other metals are added to mercury and phosphor on the enclosing bulbs to improve color and efficacy. Glasslike, translucent ceramic tubes have led to high-pressure sodium vapor lamps of unprecedented lighting power. The fluorescent lamp is another type of electric-discharge device used for generalpurpose illumination. It is a low-pressure mercury vapor lamp contained in a glass tube,

which is coated on the inside with a fluorescent material known as phosphor. The radiation in the arc of the vapor lamp causes the phosphor to become fluorescent. Much of the radiation from the arc is invisible ultraviolet light , but this radiation is changed to visible light if it excites the phosphor. Fluorescent lamps have several important advantages. By choosing the proper type of phosphor, the light from such lamps can be made to approximate the quality of daylight. In addition, the efficiency of the fluorescent lamp is high. A fluorescent tube taking 40 watts of energy produces as much light as a 150-watt incandescent bulb. Because of this illuminating power, fluorescent lamps produce less heat than incandescent bulbs for comparable light production. One advance in the field of electric lighting is the use of electroluminescence, known commonly as panel lighting. In panel lighting, particles of phosphor are suspended in a thin layer of nonconducting material such as plastic. This layer is sandwiched between two plate conductors, one of which is a translucent substance, such as glass, coated on the inside with a thin film of tin oxide. With the two conductors acting as electrodes , an alternating current is passed through the phosphor, causing it to luminesce. Luminescent panels may serve a variety of purposesfor example, to illuminate clock and radio dials, to outline the risers in staircases, and to provide luminous walls. The use of panel lighting is restricted, however, because the current requirements for large installations are excessive. A number of different kinds of electric lamps have been developed for such special purposes as photography and floodlighting. These bulbs are generally shaped to act as reflectors when coated with an aluminum mirror .One such lamp is the photoflood bulb, an incandescent lamp that is operated at a temperature higher than normal to obtain greater light output. The life of these bulbs is limited to 2 or 3 hours, as opposed to that of the ordinary incandescent bulb, which lasts from 750 to 1000 hours. Photoflash bulbs used for high-speed photography produce a single high-intensity flash of light, lasting a few hundredths of a second, by the ignition of a charge of crumpled aluminum foil or fine aluminum wire inside an oxygen-filled glass bulb. The foil is ignited by the heat of a small filament in the bulb. Increasingly popular among photographers is the high-speed gasdischarge stroboscopic lamp known as an electronic flash. MODERN LAMPS A great improvement in lamps occurred in the 18th century, when flat wicks, which gave a larger flame, were substituted for round wicks. The Swiss chemist Aim Argand invented a lamp that used a tubular wick enclosed between two cylinders of metal. The inner cylinder extended below the bottom of the fuel reservoir and provided an internal draft. Argand also discovered the principle of the glass-lamp chimney, a tube or cylinder of glass that improved the draft of the lamp, causing it to burn more brightly and produce no smoke, and that also protected the flame from wind. The cylindrical

bottom draft was later embodied in an adaptation of the gas lamp. As early as colonial times in America, wick lamps were fitted with screws for adjusting the flame.

After the introduction of illuminating gas early in the 19th century, this fuel came into common use for lighting in cities and towns. Three forms of gas lamp were in common use: the Argand burner; fishtail or batwing burners in which gas issued from a slit or a pair of holes in the burner tip to form a sheet of flame; and the incandescent gas lamp in which the gas flame heated a finely woven mesh sleeve, or mantle, made of thorium oxide, to white heat. In places where gas supply was unavailable wick lamps with oil reservoirs were still employed. Whale oil was the chief fuel for such lamps until about the middle of the 19th century. This oil was then entirely supplanted by kerosene, a fuel that had the advantage of being clean, inexpensive, and safe.At the close of the 19th century both of these forms of illumination gave way to incandescent and fluorescent electric lamps .In some rural areas kerosene lamps and lanterns (portable, shielded lamps) are still used for illumination to a limited extent, as are gasoline lamps that employ incandescent mantles similar to gas mantles. Such lanterns are also used by campers.

BIOGRAPHY Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2005. 1993-2004 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9009242 BASUC RADU CIPRIAN 12 12 E