Science Corner: An Idea for the Ages
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Features
By Alaina Grantham
Rotunda Reporter
Imagine it is 1879; you are sitting in your living room quietly reading the newest novel from your favorite author. You have been reading nonstop all afternoon and have just started to start the climax of the novel, but it's getting hard to see. The natural light from the window is fading as the sun sets, and soon it will be to dark to see much of anything. With a heavy sigh you put the book down and stand up and start to fiddle with the oil lamp beside you on the desk.
Before the lamp can be lit there is a simple checklist to follow. First, the oil level in the lamp needs to be adequate to keep the lamp lit. Second the wick needs to be checked, and possibly trimmed. Third, anything that looks remotely flammable needs to be removed from the immediate area. Then finally the lamp can be lit.
Now, apply the same situation to today, the daylight starts to fade and, you calmly get up, walk across the room and flip a switch, and then magically there is light.
Comparing the two scenarios it seems obvious which involves the greater effort, and for us it is almost impossible to imagine the first. Our entire lives have been built around the easy access of light after dark. This 'let there be light' lifestyle is largely due to a single invention, the light bulb. The light bulb we know today isn't too different from the light bulb invented by Thomas Edison. I
The technology behind the light bulb is surprisingly simplistic. At its simplest a light bulb relies heavily on the basic knowledge electrical circuits. Electricity enters the light bulb at one end of the circuit; it is then run through a specific filament to create a glow, before the current exits the light bulb to complete the circuit.
At its most complex the light bulb reacts with the gas composition within the bulb, the type of amount of electricity being run through the bulb, the shape and substance of the filament and the atomic structure of the filament. When all of these complex reactions work together a longer lasting light bulb is the sure result.
Rotunda Reporter
Imagine it is 1879; you are sitting in your living room quietly reading the newest novel from your favorite author. You have been reading nonstop all afternoon and have just started to start the climax of the novel, but it's getting hard to see. The natural light from the window is fading as the sun sets, and soon it will be to dark to see much of anything. With a heavy sigh you put the book down and stand up and start to fiddle with the oil lamp beside you on the desk.
Before the lamp can be lit there is a simple checklist to follow. First, the oil level in the lamp needs to be adequate to keep the lamp lit. Second the wick needs to be checked, and possibly trimmed. Third, anything that looks remotely flammable needs to be removed from the immediate area. Then finally the lamp can be lit.
Now, apply the same situation to today, the daylight starts to fade and, you calmly get up, walk across the room and flip a switch, and then magically there is light.
Comparing the two scenarios it seems obvious which involves the greater effort, and for us it is almost impossible to imagine the first. Our entire lives have been built around the easy access of light after dark. This 'let there be light' lifestyle is largely due to a single invention, the light bulb. The light bulb we know today isn't too different from the light bulb invented by Thomas Edison. I
The technology behind the light bulb is surprisingly simplistic. At its simplest a light bulb relies heavily on the basic knowledge electrical circuits. Electricity enters the light bulb at one end of the circuit; it is then run through a specific filament to create a glow, before the current exits the light bulb to complete the circuit.
At its most complex the light bulb reacts with the gas composition within the bulb, the type of amount of electricity being run through the bulb, the shape and substance of the filament and the atomic structure of the filament. When all of these complex reactions work together a longer lasting light bulb is the sure result.
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