This method consists of alternating discs of zinc and copper. Inserted in the middle are layers of cardboard soaked in salt water called voltaic columns that conduct electricity when connecting a copper wire to each electrode end.
While actually the forerunner of modern batteries and accumulators Volta’s glowing copper wire is also considered one of the earliest demonstrations of the light bulb.
In 1802, an English inventor named Humphrey Davy also created the first electric light bulb. world first by connecting voltaic columns to coal electrodes. This invention is called an electric arc lamp, named after the brilliant arc of light emitted between two carbon rods.
However, this is not a practical light source because it burns out very quickly and is too bright to use in home or work conditions.
In 1840 British scientist Warren de la Rue developed an efficiently designed light bulb that used a coiled platinum filament instead of copper wire, but the high cost of platinum made the light bulb unsuccessful in the market. commercial market.
However, the idea of a light bulb with a filament as the main part when it glows is heated through a transparent glass shell was formed in the years 30 – 40 of the 1800s.
Who is the real father of the incandescent light bulb?
According to records in 1835, James Bowman Lindsay was actually the inventor of the first electric incandescent light bulb in the world. and closest to reality. Unfortunately he did not get a patent to protect his invention and never completed the original prototype.
In 1860 inventor Joseph Swan came up with the idea Create a space to prolong the burning of the filament inside the bulb. His “filament” was then made of graphite placed in a vacuum-sealed glass jar. However, Swan’s device to create a vacuum was not superior.
It was not until 1879 that Thomas Edison and his researchers at Menlo Park pursued the idea of improving the incandescent filament of the light bulb. . He successfully created a light bulb filament made of charred cotton fibers that could illuminate for 14 hours and was well applied in practical conditions.
It’s easy to see that Edison was clearly not the first. first came up with this idea, but he only helped it come closer to human life. In addition, the American inventor also went down in history thanks to… quickly registering the copyright to own the light bulb.
This once caused him to be forced to face Joseph Swan in court. to determine ownership of the light bulb invention. Because Edison’s work was no more than an improvement on Swan’s invention, he quickly lost the case.
Finally both inventors were authorized to jointly produce the bulb lamp. The Edison & Swan United electric light company, known as “Ediswan”, was also born.
Light bulbs were once criticized as “junk”< /p>
It can be said that Edison’s invention brought light and civilization to the whole human world and gave birth to the world’s electricity industry. However, in the early days, his topic did not attract much attention.
Americans thought that light from light bulbs was contrary to nature. Many people also compare incandescent lights to ghostly lights that bring bad omens or can only be used in fairy tales.
A member of the US Congress once said: “Light bulbs Edison’s is only useful on the other side of the Atlantic, not America.”
Fortunately, over time people gradually recognized the values that light bulbs bring. Since then, electric light bulbs have become indispensable in human life.
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