Annabel (O)
M
any of you have heard of Thomas Edison as he is often credited as being the inventor behind the incandescent light bulb, but did you know that before him British inventors were demonstrating the capabilities of electric light through their arc lamps (types of electrical lamps). The first constant electric light was demonstrated in 1835 and for years after it scientists worked with incandescent lamps , changing the filament (the part of the bulb that produces light) and the bulbs atmosphere (whether the lamp has a vacuum or if it is filled with another gas). But there was a problem with these bulbs. They were extremely inefficient, expensive to produce and used too much energy. So, more thinking was required before they could be of any use.
These problems seemed to be answered by a bulb created by Toman Edison who often credited with the invention of the light bulb. He patented his first sucessful bulb in 1879 which had a bamboo filament. This bulb was able to last 1,200 hours and seemed to solve many of the issues that occurred with previous light bulbs. Because of this the bamboo filament because the standard filament for all his lightbulbs produced in the next 10
years. Edison is also rightfully credited with creating the standard screw fitting all our current light bulbs have. Not only did he improve the light bulb, but he also developed a whole range of inventions that helped make the use of light bulbs practical. He demonstrated that electricity could be distributed from a centrally located generator though conduits (channels that electricity can pass through) and wires. He also developed the first commercial power unit and an electric meter so customers could see how much electricity they were using. Artificial lighting had now gone from something that could only be produced in a lab to something that was commercially viable.
