"Science" Behind Light Bulbs

How did this first incandescent light bulb work? Thomas's invention passed electricity through a thin filament made of platinum. The filament lived within a glass bulb that created a vacuum. This vacuum prevented the filament from melting. Unfortunately this first bulb only lasted a few hours. Many other filaments followed the first filament made of platinum. Some examples of filaments tried include those made of tungsten, charcoal and like materials.

Fortunately for Thomas Edison he stumbled on a piece of carbon one day. He started using carbonized filaments of various plants. History has it that Edison tested more than 6,000 different carbonized plant materials to see what might work best as a long lasting filament for his bulbs. His hard work paid off.

Edison found that a carbonized piece of cotton thread produced a soft glow that lasted fifteen hours. After much experimentation with the same material Edison produced a bulb that produced light for up to 1500 hours. At this point he was officially in the business of creating and selling light bulbs.

The modern light bulb today works in much the same way as it's primitive ancestor. Light is nothing more than energy. Atoms release this energy. Energy consists of particles called photons. Photons are the smallest units of light. When electrons in atoms get excited they produce light photons. This explains how a light bulb works. Atoms get excited and begin producing light. Sounds like a funky movie doesn't it?

Light bulbs consist of a few small parts. Most have metal contacts attached to wires which connect to a filament. The filament sits in the center of the bulb, surrounded by the bulb itself. Light bulbs contain "inert" gas, usually argon. When you screw your light bulb into an electrical outlet, a current flows through the metal contacts to the filament. Electrons bump into atoms activating them and producing heat. As the atoms start to vibrate their energy levels rise and fall. When this happens the atoms release light photons that when heated enough, produce visible light.

Today most manufacturers create filaments in light bulbs using tungsten metal, which lasts much longer than cotton. While Edison himself looked at tungsten as a filament, he was not able to refine it to a useful state during his time. Fortunately that changed in the early 1900s.

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