Light bulb

Scientific Journey of the Light Bulb

By hprice
  • Sir Humphry Davy discovered platinum filaments.

  • Davy created the first electric carbon arc lamp.

  • Warren De la Rue created a lamp that worked but was to expensive for wide-spread use.

  • Edward Shepard invented an electrical incandescent arc lamp using a charcoal filament.

  • German Henricg Globel created the first true light bulb –used a carbonized bamboo filament inside a glass bulb.

  • Herman Sprengel invented the mercury vacuum pump –Made it possible to get a good vacuum inside a bulb.

  • Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans patented a light bulb.

  • Sir Joseph Wilson Swan invented a light bulb that lasted for 13.5 hrs. –used a carbonized cotton filament.

  • Thomas Alva Edison invented a light bulb that burned for 40 hrs. –placed filament in an oxygen-less bulb. –His ideas were based on the 1875 patent he purchased from Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans.

  • Edison continued to improved his light bulb until it could last for over 1,200 hours –Used a bamboo-derived filament.

  • Willis Whitnew invented a filament that would not make the inside of a light bulb turn dark. –Used a metal-coated carbon filament

  • The General Electric Company patented the use of tungsten filaments for use in light bulbs. –These filaments were expensive.

  • William David Coolidge invented an improved method of making tungsten filaments. –outlasted other types of filaments –made costs practical.

  • The first frosted light bulbs were produced.

  • Philips Company invented a light bulb that lasts 60,000 hours.