How does a light bulb make light and thermal energy?

Question

I assume that the longer you keep the light on it will turn into thermal energy(heat)

Answer 1

When electricity is forced to go through the tiny filament wire it causes it to incandescence. This means glow white hot. The wire is inside the bulb in argon gas so that it will not burn up. The bulb is about 40% efficient in making light. The other 60% is heat. When electricity is forced through a wire the resistance makes heat. The longer the bulb is on, the more heat is produced.

Answer 2

to understand that you have to understand how a simple light bulb works. A simple light bolb is a wire in vacume that has electricity put through it. The wire used has so much electricity put through it that it heats up. If there was no vacum it would melt. However there is no air so if we keep the wire at the right temperate it get glowing hot and produces light as a side effect. The longer you keep a light on the more likley you are to feel the effect of the heat on the glass of th bulb. The same way if you put a pot of water on a flame. You can touch the water 10 second later and it will still feel cold. However over time the water heats up and if youput your hand in then it will burn. The same way the glass of the light bulb will heat up over enough time.

Answer 3

Hey i am a Physics Student. In my knowledge of how light is given out in a bulb is that. Light is emitted when electrons break free and electrons break free when they reach a certain energy level. This is Quantum physics and its Einstein's explanation of the potential energy 'Well', which means that you need a certain amount of energy for the electron to break through and this level is called the work function. For example when you put a iron rod in fire for certain time, it will glow red when its energy level has reached to a certain point when electrons can be given off.

So in a light bulb your producing certain amount of electric energy for allowing the electrons to be released which is in sense giving out light. I hope i am right on what i have been studying and my answer was if you wanted to know in dept about this. If you would like to read more and your int rested you can look up on "Quantum Physics".

Answer 4

When the bulb is hooked up to a power supply, an electric current flows from one contact to the other, through the wires and the filament. Electric current in a solid conductor is the mass movement of free electrons (electrons that are not tightly bound to an atom) from a negatively charged area to a positively charged area.

As the electrons zip along through the filament, they are constantly bumping into the atoms that make up the filament. The energy of each impact vibrates an atom -- in other words, the current heats the atoms up. A thinner conductor heats up more easily than a thicker conductor because it is more resistant to the movement of electrons.

Bound electrons in the vibrating atoms may be boosted temporarily to a higher energy level. When they fall back to their normal levels, the electrons release the extra energy in the form of photons. Metal atoms release mostly infrared light photons, which are invisible to the human eye. But if they are heated to a high enough level -- around 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 degrees C) in the case of a light bulb -- they will emit a good deal of visible light.


GO TO:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/light-bulb.htm

Answer 5

touch a light bulb

Answer 6

electricity through a highly resistant fillimant yeilds heat, yeilds electromagnetic radiation

Answer 7

yep

Answer 8

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