When was the incandescent light bulb invented by thomas edison

Unfortunately for Swan, the vacuum pumps of his day were not efficient as they are now, and while his prototype worked well for a demonstration, it was impractical in actual use. Edison realized that the problem with Swan's design was the filament.

A thin filament with high electrical resistance would make a lamp practical because it would require only a little current to make it glow. He demonstrated his light bulb in December Swan incorporated the improvement into his light bulbs and founded an electrical lighting company in England. Swan wasn't the only competitor Edison faced. In , Canadian inventors Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans filed a patent for an electric lamp with different-sized carbon rods held between electrodes in a glass cylinder filled with nitrogen.

The pair tried, unsuccessfully, to commercialize their lamps but eventually sold their patent to Edison in The company was started with financial contributions from J.

Morgan and other wealthy investors of the time. The company constructed the first electrical generating stations that would power electrical system and newly patented bulbs. The first generating station was opened in September on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan. Other inventors, such as William Sawyer and Albon Man, threw in the towel, merging their company with Edison's to form General Electric, according to the U. Department of Energy DOE.

Where Edison succeeded and surpassed his competition was in developing a practical and inexpensive light bulb , according to the DOE. A patent was later granted to the American inventor, John W. Starr, for his design for an incandescent light bulb which used carbon filaments. Following his grant of the patent, however, Starr died and his invention never made it to commercial production.

Russian inventor Alexander Lodygin similarly invented an incandescent light bulb which utilized carbon rods in a vacuum tube in ; he gained a Russian patent for it in Situated within a glass enclosure, two carbon rods were sealed in with nitrogen and arranged such that in the event that one failed, the electrical current would be passed on to the other.

Lodygin later moved to the United States and applied for and received patents for incandescent lamp designs which included filaments of chromium, iridium, tungsten, and many other metals.

His design supposedly consisted of thin, high resistance carbonized bamboo filaments, platinum lead-in wires, a glass enclosure, and a high vacuum. His claims, however, were never confirmed and, in fact, discredited in On 24 July Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans obtained a Canadian patent for an incandescent lamp which consisted of carbon rods mounted in a nitrogen-filled glass bulb.

While an effective design, the pair was unsuccessful and commercializing their light bulb and sold the patent rights to Thomas Edison in British physicist and chemist Joseph Swan and American inventor Thomas Edison demonstrated the first instances of commercial production of incandescent lamps. In , Swan began working with carbonized paper filaments enclosed in evacuated glass bulbs.

By , he demonstrated a good working device, but he lacked sufficient vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity, which resulted in a short lifespan for the bulb and an ineffective light source. By the mids, better vacuum pumps were created which allowed for modifications to his original design. In , with the help of vacuum pump expert, Charles Stern, Swan developed a bulb production process which avoided the bulb blackening of early designs, obtaining a British patent in Swan first demonstrated a new bulb design which used the carbon rods from arc lamps, rather than a thin filament.

Because of this design change, the lower resistance filaments required larger conductors in order to supply the necessary current. In , Irving Langmuir figured out that placing an inert gas like nitrogen inside the bulb doubled its efficiency. Scientists continued to make improvements over the next 40 years that reduced the cost and increased the efficiency of the incandescent bulb. But by the s, researchers still had only figured out how to convert about 10 percent of the energy the incandescent bulb used into light and began to focus their energy on other lighting solutions.

Discharge lamps became the basis of many lighting technologies, including neon lights, low-pressure sodium lamps the type used in outdoor lighting such as streetlamps and fluorescent lights. Both Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla experimented with fluorescent lamps in the s, but neither ever commercially produced them. Hewitt created a blue-green light by passing an electric current through mercury vapor and incorporating a ballast a device connected to the light bulb that regulates the flow of current through the tube.

While the Cooper Hewitt lamps were more efficient than incandescent bulbs, they had few suitable uses because of the color of the light. By the late s and early s, European researchers were doing experiments with neon tubes coated with phosphors a material that absorbs ultraviolet light and converts the invisible light into useful white light.

These findings sparked fluorescent lamp research programs in the U. These lights lasted longer and were about three times more efficient than incandescent bulbs.

The need for energy-efficient lighting American war plants led to the rapid adoption of fluorescents, and by , more light in the U. Further experimentation produced filaments that could burn longer and longer with each test. Patent number , was given to Edison's electric lamp. The Edison lamp from our Attic is dated January 27, It is a product of the continued improvements Edison made to the bulb. Even though it is over a hundred years old, this bulb looks very much like the light bulbs lighting your house right now.

The base, or socket, on this 19th century lamp is similar to the ones still used today. It was one of the most important features of Edison's lamp and electrical system. The label on this bulb reads, "New Type Edison Lamp. Patented Jan. In the early s, Edison planned and supervised the construction of the first commercial, central electric power station in New York City. In , Edison began construction of a new laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life.

Before he died in , Edison patented 1, of his inventions. The wonders of his mind include the microphone, telephone receiver, universal stock ticker, phonograph, kinetoscope used to view moving pictures , storage battery, electric pen, and mimeograph. Edison improved many other existing devices as well. From a discovery made by one of his associates, he patented the Edison effect now called thermionic diode , which is the basis for all electron tubes.

Edison will forever be remembered for his contributions to the incandescent light bulb. Even though he didn't dream up the first light bulb ever crafted, and technology continues to change every day, Edison's work with light bulbs was a spark of brilliance on the timeline of invention. At the very beginning of his experiments with the incandescent lamp in , he said:.

Where this thing is going to stop Lord only knows.