Today an electric light is the most commonly used device in our daily lives. We need them to provide light for houses, buildings, and streets. We also have handheld lights that have a backup (后备) time of more than 12 hours. The technology that we use today may be different from the past, but what we have today can be traced all the way back to the invention of the electric light.
Efforts to create a working electric light go back to 1800 when an Italian scientist named Alessandro Volta, during his experiments on the development of electric batteries, observed that when a copper (铜) wire connected the two ends of the battery, it starts to glow due to the passage of electricity. The electric battery he invented then became the source of many electric experiments.
Researches and developments on the electric light were continued by many inventors. It is said that the electric light was invented by 20 inventors before Thomas Edison.
The main problem in the developments of the electric light was the filament (灯丝) inside it; it didn't last very long and melted very quickly. In this regard, Thomas Edison was very important in the development of the electric light.
Edison started developing and testing new filaments that could last longer. He tested many materials and finally developed a filament that could last for 13.5 hours, which proved that he was moving in the right direction. He tried more than 3,000 electric light designs and 6,000 different filament materials. Finally, he found a filament that could last for more than 1,200 hours.
Edison became successful not just because he developed a long-lasting filament. He also developed the entire electric lighting system, including the sockets (插孔) and switches. He also made the first steam-generating power station in 1882.
