Electrical filament facts for kids
A light bulb has a tiny, thin wire inside it. This special wire is called a filament. It's the part of the light bulb that actually glows and makes light!
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Contents
What is a Light Bulb Filament?
A filament is a very thin wire found inside an incandescent light bulb. It is held in place by two thicker wires. When you turn on the light, electricity flows through this thin wire. This makes the filament get very hot and glow brightly.
How Filaments Work
When electric current passes through the filament, it heats up a lot. This heat makes the filament glow, producing light. To make the bulb shine even brighter, the filament is often made into a tiny coil. This is like a spring made of very fine wire. It's called a "coiled coil." This design helps the bulb produce more light from a smaller space.
Materials Used for Filaments
Most filaments in incandescent light bulbs are made from a strong metal called tungsten. Tungsten is chosen because it can get extremely hot without melting. It also glows very brightly when heated. Early light bulbs used different materials, like carbon, but tungsten became the standard because it works so well.
Images for kids
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A 230-volt incandescent light bulb with a medium-sized E27 base. The filament is visible.
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Original carbon-filament bulb from Thomas Edison's shop in Menlo Park
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Alexander Lodygin on a 1951 Soviet postal stamp
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Carbon filament lamps, showing darkening of bulb
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Historical plaque at Underhill, the first house to be lit by electric lights
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Edison carbon filament lamps, early 1880s
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Hanaman (left) and Just (right), the inventors of the tungsten bulbs
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Spectrum of an incandescent lamp at 2200 K, showing most of its emission as invisible infrared light.
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Xenon halogen lamp with an E27 base.
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Thermal image of an incandescent bulb.
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Spectral power distribution of a 25 W incandescent light bulb.
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The 1902 tantalum filament light bulb was the first one to have a metal filament. This one is from 1908.
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Coiled coil filament of a 200-watt incandescent lightbulb highly magnified
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Close-up of a tungsten filament inside a halogen lamp.
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A package of four 60-watt light bulbs
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Left to right: MR16 with GU10 base, MR16 with GU5.3 base, MR11 with GU4 or GZ4 base
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40-watt light bulbs with standard E10, E14 and E27 Edison screw base
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The Centennial Light is the longest-lasting light bulb in the world.
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Various lighting spectra as viewed in a diffraction grating.
See also
In Spanish: Filamento (electricidad) para niños
