Lowes has been helping people make their houses homes for many years. With a Lowes Money Off Coupon from We Are Coupons you can save money on everything, even light bulbs. But do you know the history of these simple everyday items?
One of the greatest inventions in human history is the incandescent light bulb. However, it was not the result of one person's efforts, nor did it develop rapidly. The development of the incandescent light bulb began in 1802 with an experiment carried out by Sir Humphrey Davy. He connected a thin platinum band with wires to the most powerful battery in the world at the time.
The current that flows heats the strip so much that it starts to glow. Platinum is used as the material because it has a high melting point. It didn't last long and it wasn't too bright, but it was a start.
James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated in 1835 an "incandescent light bulb", which he claimed he could read in the dark at a distance of 45 cm. Since he was satisfied with how it worked, he did not improve it further. In 1840, the English scientist Warren de la Rue made a flask with a spiral filament of platinum in a glass flask from which all air had been removed. The idea was that because the filament burned in a vacuum, fewer air molecules interacted with the platinum and extended the life of the lamp.
The lamp worked well, but the platinum made it too expensive to be used commercially. John Wellington Starr, an American inventor, developed the carbon filament incandescent lamp in 1845. He patented it, but died soon after, and his invention never saw the light of day. In 1874, Russian inventor Alexander Ledigin experimented with various incandescent materials such as osmium, molybdenum, tungsten and others.
Joseph Swann, a British chemist and inventor, began experimenting with carbonized paper filaments in a vacuum and a glass bulb, but because it was not possible at the time to get a good vacuum or a good source of electricity, the lamps ran too long and didn't work. they didn't burn too much. From the 1870s he collaborated with Charles Stern, a specialist in vacuum pumps, and in 1978 they succeeded in obtaining a good vacuum which prevented the internal darkening of the glass bulb. In 1879 they tried using a carbon rod instead of a filament, but due to the very low resistance, this lamp required too much current and still had too short a run, so it was not yet commercially practical. Since then, Swann has focused on making better threads.
He invented a method of processing cotton to produce "parchment thread" and with it he was finally able to make the first usable electric light bulb. Thomas Edison began trying to make usable light bulbs in 1878. After experimenting with various materials, Edison focused on carbon filaments. His first successful attempt was on the 22nd.
October 1879 with 13 o'clock light bulb. After trying carbonized cotton, wood, paper, and other materials, his team found that carbonized bamboo filament could last 1,200 hours. In 1904, Sandor Just and Franjo Hanaman received a patent for an incandescent lamp with a tungsten filament, which gave a brighter light and lasted even longer.
