How Do Incandescent Light Bulbs Work

At the most basic level light bulbs work by exciting atoms that release photons of light.

How do incandescent light bulbs work.

How an incandescent bulb works incandescent light bulbs are the result of an electric current passing through a tungsten filament and heating it to a temperature hot enough to produce light a secondary output. They are made in an extremely wide range of sizes wattages and voltages. In case of cfl and tube lights we can switch off some of them to get the same effect. How incandescent bulbs work.

Incandescent bulbs are simple but fairly inefficient. Most of the electricity flowing through the filament generates heat while a small percentage actually produces light. They re essentially heaters generating a small amount of light. In an incandescent type of bulb an electric current is passed through a thin metal filament heating the filament until it glows and produces light.

An incandescent lamp makes light by passing electricity through a very thin wire filament. The familiarly shaped glass enclosure is a vacuum free of oxygen which disintegrates the filament. Of course there s more to it than that but this is essentially what happens. How incandescent light works.

You can see the filament clearly as a bright white stripe in this short exposure photograph. Electric current flows into the bulb. An incandescent light bulb incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. Basically an incandescent light bulb is a controlled fire on display.

Fluorescent lights have a different design that is more efficient than the way light bulbs work. Electricity charges mercury vapor inside the tubular bulb which in turn excites phosphor atoms that emit white light. An incandescent light bulb adds to the heat load of an air conditioning system unlike the other options. When electrical current makes contact with the base of the bulb electricity enters and heats the tungsten filament housed inside.

That s why light bulbs get quite hot to the touch. The incandescent light bulb or lamp is a source of electric light that works by incandescence which is the emission of light caused by heating the filament. The filament gets red or white hot and gives off light as well as lots of heat. An incandescent bulb works on the principle of incandescence a general term meaning light produced by heat.

Incandescent light bulbs can be used with a dimmer circuit thus allowing to control the intensity of the light during romantic candle light dinners.