Image: Mercury arc rectifier bulb

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Description: One of the first mercury arc rectifier bulbs, invented by Peter Cooper Hewitt in 1902. It consists of a partially evacuated glass bulb with a cathode electrode at the bottom consisting of a pool of the liquid metal mercury, and two graphite anode electrodes at top. The mercury arc rectifier was used into the 1970s to provide high power DC current to power industrial motors, electric locomotives, streetcars, and battery chargers.
Title: Mercury arc rectifier bulb
Credit: Downloaded August 22, 2013 from Nehemiah Hawkins (1917) Hawkins Electrical Guide No. 5: Questions, Answers, and Illustrations, Theo. Audel and Co. New York, p. 1511, fig. 2099 on Google Books
Author: Nehemiah Hawkins
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No

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Mercury-arc rectifier

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