Inventor

Jakarta –

In everyday life, the lamp is one of the most important inventions. This object is one of the technological innovations that bring revolutionary changes in the way humans live and work. But do you know who invented the lamp?

Generally, people will answer with the figure of Thomas Alva Edison. Thomas Alva Edison is a scientist from the United States who was lined up as the inventor of the light bulb.

But is that really the case? here’s the explanation.

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The History of the Invention of the Light Bulb

The light bulb was not actually invented by one person. The current source of lighting is the result of previous discoveries.

The discovery of the light bulb began in 1800. Almost half a century before Thomas Alva Edison was born.

1. Alessandro Volta

At that time, an Italian inventor named Alessandro Volta discovered that electricity could be passed through zinc, copper, salt water, and cardboard using copper wire.

Through this electric current, many inventors are competing with each other to find other ways to see in the dark. They are researching ways to make electricity supply stable and accessible to households.

2. Humphry Davy

Then in 1809, an English inventor named Humphry Davy found a way to pass an electric current through an arc of platinum that made it shine brightly. Well, this is the first electric object used as lighting.

3. Michael Faraday

Continuing in 1831, Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy’s student developed his lamp using a generator so that the scale became large.

At that time Davy’s lamp used two pieces of carbon near each other to conduct electricity, thus producing a bright light. However, Davy’s lamp was judged to be too bright, burned quickly, costly, and was not suitable for households.

Faraday developed Davy’s lamp for use in a few locations, such as lighthouses and road junctions.

4. Frederick de Moleyns

Then in 1840, Frederick de Moleyns also went looking for lights. The British scientist was the first to receive a patent for an incandescent lamp.

He heated powdered carbon using two platinum wires while adding a glass bulb to make the lamp shine more. However, the wire melts quickly, making it inaccessible to the general public because it is quite expensive.

5. Joseph Swan

The inventors are still trying to find a way to prevent the wire from burning quickly while conducting electricity using materials that are easy for the public to buy. Until 1960, Joseph Swan, began to develop electric lighting.

The British researcher used an impermeable spherical lamp design to reduce oxidation, thereby slowing combustion. To make it even more affordable, Swan used carbon paper wire on his glass light bulbs.

However, the vacuum he created still had many flaws. Such as prevention of oxidation which has not been effective in prolonging combustion. As a result, the Swan lamp only lasted a few minutes when it was patented in 1878.

6. Thomas Alva Edison

Witnessing the shortage of Swan lamps, Thomas Alva Edison started trying to fix them. In 1879, Edison and his team conducted 6,000 experiments using various materials to wire light bulbs so they didn’t catch fire.

He uses bamboo carbon as the basic material for thin wire which is considered efficient enough to reduce combustion. Edison also improved the airtight chamber designed by Swan.

Finally, for the first time a light bulb could burn for 600 hours. Edison’s light bulb was the beginning of light bulbs for household needs and we enjoy them today.

If Thomas Alva Edison didn’t invent the light bulb, why is his name the most famous? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, this scientist managed to find a lamp that can be reached by the general public.

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2023-07-03 11:00:00
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