The Incandescent Lamp

The Incandescent Lamp
-Invention of Thomas Edison in 1897.

-Light is produced in an incandescent lamp by a
current that goes through a filament of resistance
material to heat the lamp.
Features/Characteristics:
1. Cheaper
2. Has a good warm color
3. Small in size
4. Its life span is relatively short
5. Not an efficient producer of light
* 10% help produce light & 90% gives off heat
6. Sensitive to voltage changes
Parts of the Incandescent lamp
1. Filament - Usually made of tungsten
2. Gas - A mixture of nitrogen and in most
lamps 40watts or higher
3. Lead-in wires - Made of copper.These
wires carry the current to the filament.
4. Exhaust tube - Air is exhaust through this
tube during manufacture and inert gases are
introduced into the bulb.
5. Bulb - Usually made of soft glass. Bulbs
comes in various shapes and finishes.
Parts of Incandescent Lamp
6. Mica Disc - This is used when the
circulation of hot gases into the neck of the
bulb needs to be reduced.
7.Fuse - This device protects the lamp and
circuit by blowing if the filament arcs.
8.Base- This is a typical screw base. One
lead in wire is soldered to the center
contact and the other to the upper rim of
the base shell which is made of brass.
Base Types.
Bulb Shapes
THE FLUORESCENT LAMPS
• -Is one of the most commonly used
lamps.
• -Like the incandescent lamp, the
fluorescent lamp is available in
variouus sizes, wattage, colors,
application and designs. It is second
only to the incandescent lamp in
consumer use.
• -In this tubular discharge lamp, the
ionization of mercury vapor produces
radiationthat activates the fluorescent
coating on the inner surface of the
glass. That is how the lamp functions.
• - The common fluorescent lamp is a hot-
cathode type which consist of a sealed
glass tube provoded with a mixture of
mercury vapor and inert gas.
• - The cathode causes the mercury arc to

form inside the tube and to produce the
ultraviolet (uv) light. The uv strikes the
phosphor that coats the inner part of the
tube. It then fluoresces and produces
visible light.
• -The requires a ballast in its circuit to limit

the current so that the fuse of the circuit
breaker will not open. It also needs a
starter to serve as a switch.
• - The starter is small cylindrical about
1inch in diameter and 2" in length that
snaps into the fixture from the outside.
Basic Parts:
1. Bulb- Usually a straight glass tube
that is circular or U-shaped.
2. Phosphor- This is the coating inside
the bulb which transforms uv radiation
into visible light. The color of light
produced depends on the
composition of phosphor.
3. Gas-This is usually argon or a
mixture of inert gas at a low pressure.
Basic Parts:
4. Mercury-This is a small quantity of liquid
mercury placed in the bulb to give mercury
vapor.
5. Base-This comes in several diff. types
used to connect the lamp to the elec.
current in order to support it in the lamp
holder.
6. Cathode- Also known as hot cathode, this
is coated with a material that emits
electrons at each end of the lamp. It is
usually made of coiled-coil or single-coil
tungsten wire.
Basic Parts:
7. Exhaust tube- Air is exhaust through this tube
during manufactureand inert gas introduce into
the bulb.
8. Lead-in wires-These are connected to the base
pins and carry the current to and from the
cathode and the mercury arc.
9. Stem press- This provides airtight seal to the
lead-in wires. It is made of a wire that maintains
the same coeffecient of expansion as the glass.
Features/Characteristics:
1.) Relatively large and need large fixtures

to hold them.
2.) More effecient than incandescent lamp.
3.) 20% becomes light and 80% percent
converted to heat.
4.) Last longer than other kind of lamp.
5.) Cheap and available in white&warm
color.
6.) Maybe dimmed, however it requires the
use of expensive & special dimming
ballasts.
Four Types of Fluorescent Lamps:
1. Pre-heat lamp. Introduced in 1937.

Requires a separate starter that allows
cathode to preheat which then opens the
circuit, causing the arc to flash.
2. Instant-start (slimline) lamp. Develop in
1944. It operates without starter and does
not require preheating. The ballast
provides enough high voltage to directly
strike the arc.
3. Rapid-start lamp. This type of fluorescent

lamp was introduced in 1952. Also called
"rapid-start preheat lamp. It operates like
the preheat type except that the cathodes
are always energized. The cathode of the
rapid-lamp start lamp is heated constantly
by a special winding ballast.
4. High-output rapid-start lamp. This is one

of the two special types: the high-output
(HO) lamp that operates at 800mA and the
very high-output that operates at 1500mA.
Preheat instant-start lamps operate at
425mA.

The Incandescent Lamp

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The Incandescent Lamp

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The Incandescent Lamp

-Invention of Thomas Edison in 1897.

• - The cathode causes the mercury arc to

• -The requires a ballast in its circuit to limit

1.) Relatively large and need large fixtures

1. Pre-heat lamp. Introduced in 1937.

3. Rapid-start lamp. This type of fluorescent

4. High-output rapid-start lamp. This is one

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