Who Invented Light Bulb?

Who Invented Light Bulb?

Inventors started working on a brilliant concept that would change the way toutilize energy in our homes and businesses more than 160 years ago. This idea influenced building design, extended the typical workplace duration, and encouraged the development of new industries. It also resulted in new energy advances, ranging from power plants and transmission lines to household products and electric motors. The light bulb, like many great innovations, cannot be associated with a single person. The light bulbs we use in our homes today result from several minor enhancements to earlier inventors' ideas.

Who Invented Light Bulb

Light Bulb

A light bulb is a display of a controlled fire. When an electrical current is applied to the bulb's base, electricity enters the bulb and warms the tungsten filament. When the filament warms up, "reddish glow," or light produced by heat, occurs.

Today, we cannot imagine a life without the light bulb. However, we have several types of bulbs available that we can use depending upon the requirement. We have a LED bulb for the home, and for decoration purposes, we have several other options. In this article, we are going to take a look at the journey of the light bulb.

Who invented the light bulb?

Rivalry, failures and tremendous successes abound throughout the history of the light bulb. Since the artificial fire, the electric light bulb has been termed the most important innovation. The light bulb served to maintaining social order after sunset, extending the working hours well into the night, and allowing us to navigate and travel safely at night. There would be no entertainment without the light bulb. Creating a reliable and inexpensive source of illumination, on the other hand, was not as simple as many history textbooks indicate. The current light bulb is the product of 150 years of labor by various pioneers and continual advancements.

1. Early Light Bulbs

The Contribution of Humphry Davy

Who Invented Light Bulb

Humphry Davydeveloped the first electric light in 1802. He experimented with electricity and developed an electric battery as a result of his efforts. When he attached wires to a piece of carbon and a battery, the carbon sparked and produced light. The Electric Arc Lamp was the name given for his innovation. While it did develop light, it didn't do so for very long but was far too bright to be practical use.

The Contribution of Warren de la Rue 

Who Invented Light Bulb

Other innovators developed "light bulbs" during the following seven decades, but no designs for commercial use appeared. Warren de la Rue, a British physicist, used a vacuum tube to contain a coiled platinum filament and send an electric charge through it in 1840.Platinum's high melting point was thought to allow it to work at high temperatures. In addition, the empty chamber would usually contain gas molecules to react with the platinum, improving its duration. Although the design was efficient, the cost of platinum made commercial production impossible.

Joseph Wilson Swan's light bulb

Who Invented Light Bulb

In 1850, an English scientist called Joseph Wilson Swan created a "light bulb" by placing activated carbon paper filaments in an empty glass bulb. By 1860, he had a functioning prototype, but due to a lack of a strong vacuum and an appropriate power source, the bulb's lifetime was much too short to be recognized as an efficient light producer. Swan experimented with light bulbs once better vacuum pumps were available in the 1870s.

Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans's patent

Who Invented Light Bulb

On July 24, 1874, Henry Woodward, a Toronto medical electrician, and Mathew Evans, a colleague, filed a Canadian patent application. They made their lamps out of various sizes and forms of carbon rods positioned between electrodes in nitrogen-filled glass cylinders. Woodward and Evans tried but failed to market their light. Finally, in 1879, they sold their invention to Thomas Edison.

2. Thomas Edison, the inventor first commercially available light bulb

Who Invented Light Bulb

In 1878, Thomas Edison began major research to develop a workable incandescent light bulb, and on October 14, 1878, he filed his first patent for "Improvement in Electric Lights."However, in order to improve on his original concept, he experimented with several types of materials for metal filaments. He submitted for another US patent on November 4, 1879, for a light bulb that used "a carbon filaments or stripe coiled and linked to platina contact wires."Despite the fact that the patent mentioned several methods for producing carbon filaments, including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in different ways," Edison and his team did not find that a carbonized bamboo filament would last for over 1200 hours until about few months after the patent was approved.

The period of commercially available light bulbs started with this invention, and Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Light Company began producing its new product in 1880.

Evolution of Light Bulb

Who Invented Light Bulb

It's easy to take light for granted since we use it so frequently. At home, at work, in the vehicle, on flights, and basically anywhere else we go at night, we need lights. However, when there is a power failure, and we are driven to see and do by candle, it is one of the few occasions we take a step back and examine our dependency on the light.  In this section, we will demonstrate how far light bulbs have traveled.

  • The Incandescent Light
Who Invented Light Bulb

The first light bulb was among Thomas Edison's very well-known inventions. The light bulb revolution began in 1879 with the invention of the incandescent light bulb. Unfortunately, incandescent light bulbs are the least energy-efficient light bulbs on the market, wasting 90% of the energy they consume.

  • The Compact Fluorescent Light(CFL)
Who Invented Light Bulb

In less than a hundred years after incandescent light bulbs were first presented to homes, a new light bulb was developed.During the 1973 European oil crisis, which resulted in a lack of fuel for oil lamps, the first fluorescent light bulb was brought to residential homes.Edward Hammerinvented the spiral shape fluorescent light bulb, often known as the compact fluorescent light bulb, in 1976. (CFL). CFL bulbs are a worthy substitute for incandescent lights since they consume just 20% of the power than conventional bulbs use.

  • The LED Light
Who Invented Light Bulb

After conventional and CFL light bulbs, LED lights are the most modern and well-known light bulbs. Because they use a semiconductor to convert power into light, light-emitting diode bulbs are the most energy-efficient. As a result, LEDs have now been used in most office buildings since they are the most energy-efficient light bulbs available.

This article will discuss all about the light bulb's origins, invention, and evolution. Without a doubt, the light bulb is one of the most significant inventions ever made. We can't imagine how difficult our life would be without it now. We need it everywhere to prolong working hours, for residential uses, or for night security.