Lamps

Group of ancient lamps (Hellenistic and Roman)

Simple contemporary Indian clay oil lamp during Diwali

Antique bronze oil lamp with the "Chi Rho", a Christian symbol (replica)

Sukunda oil lamp of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Modern oil lamp of Germany with flat wick

An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil
lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. They
work in the same way as a candle but with fuel that is liquid at room temperature, so that a container for the oil is
required. A textile wick drops down into the oil, and is lit at the end, burning the oil as it is drawn up the wick.

Oil lamps are a form of lighting, and were used as an alternative to candles before the use of electric lights. Starting in
1780, the Argand lamp quickly replaced other oil lamps still in their basic ancient form. These in turn were replaced by
the kerosene lamp in about 1850. In small towns and rural areas the latter continued in use well into the 20th century,
until such areas were finally electrified and light bulbs could be used.

Sources of fuel for oil lamps include a wide variety of plants such as nuts (walnuts, almonds, and kukui) and seeds
(sesame, olive, castor, or flax). Also widely used were animal fats (butter, ghee, fish oil, shark liver, whale blubber,
or seal). Camphine, a blend of turpentine and ethanol, was the first "burning fluid" fuel for lamps after whale oil supplies
were depleted. It was replaced by kerosene after the US Congress enacted excise taxes on alcohol to pay for
the American Civil War.

Most modern lamps (such as fueled lanterns) have been replaced by gas-based or petroleum-based fuels to operate
when emergency non-electric light is required. Therefore, oil lamps of today are primarily used for the particular
ambience they produce.

Shoulder

Pouring hole

The hole through which fuel is put inside the fuel chamber. The width generally ranges from 0.5–5 cm (0.20–1.97 in) in
general. There may be one hole or multiple holes.

Wick hole and the nozzle

May be either an opening in the body of the lamp or an elongated nozzle. In some specific types of lamps, there is a
groove on the top of the nozzle that runs along to the pouring hole to re-collect the oozing oil from the wick.

Handle

Lamps can come with a handle. The handle can come in different shapes. The most common is a ring-shaped for the
forefinger surmounted by a palmette, on which the thumb is pressed to stabilize the lamp. Other handles can be
crescent-shaped, triangular, or oval-shaped. The handleless lamps usually have an elongated nozzle, and sometimes
have a lug rising diagonally from the periphery. The lug may act as a small handle where the thumb rests. Some lugs are
pierced. It was speculated that pierced lugs were used to place a pen or straw, called the Latin: acus or festuca, with
which the wick was trimmed. Others think that the pierced lugs were used to hang the lamp on a metal hook when not
in use.[citation needed]

Discus

Fuel chamber

The fuel reservoir. The mean volume in a typical terra-cotta lamp is 20 cc (20 mL).[citation needed]

Types[edit]

Lamps can be categorized based on different criteria, including material (clay, silver, bronze, gold, stone, slip), shape,
structure, design, and imagery (e.g. symbolic, religious, mythological, erotic, battles, hunting).

Typologically, lamps of the Ancient Mediterranean can be divided into seven major categories:

Wheel-made

This category includes Greek and Egyptian lamps that date before the 3rd century BC. They are characterized by
simplicity, with little or no decoration, a wide pour-hole, a lack of handles, and a pierced or unpierced lug. Pierced lugs
occurred briefly between the 4th and 3rd century BC. Unpierced lugs continued until the 1st century BC.

Volute, Early Imperial

With spiral, scroll-like ornaments called volutes extending from their nozzles, these lamps were predominantly produced
in Italy during the Early Roman period. They have a wide discus, a narrow shoulder, no handle, elaborate imagery and
artistic finishing, and a wide range of patterns of decoration.

High Imperial

These lamps are late Roman. The shoulder is wider and the discus is smaller with fewer decorations. These lamps have
handles, short, plain nozzles, and less artistic finishing.

Frog

This is a regional style lamp exclusively produced in Egypt and found in the regions around it, between c. 100 and 300
AD. The frog

Swiss flat-wick kerosene lamp. The knob protruding to the right adjusts the wick, and hence the flame size.

A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that
Kerosene lamp

A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps
have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a table, or hand-held lanterns may be
used for portable lighting. Like oil lamps, they are useful for lighting without electricity, such as in regions without rural electrification,
in electrified areas during power outages, at campsites, and on boats. There are three types of kerosene lamp: flat-wick, central-draught
(tubular round wick), and mantle lamp. Kerosene lanterns meant for portable use have a flat wick and are made in dead-flame, hot-blast, and
cold-blast variants.

Pressurized kerosene lamps use a gas mantle; these are known as Petromax, Tilley lamps, or Coleman lamps, among other manufacturers.
They produce more light per unit of fuel than wick-type lamps, but are more complex and expensive in construction and more complex to
operate. A hand-pump pressurizes air, which forces liquid fuel from a reservoir into a gas chamber. Vapor from the chamber burns, heating a
mantle to incandescence and also providing heat.

Kerosene lamps are widely used for lighting in rural areas of Africa and Asia, where electricity is not distributed or is too costly. As of 2005,
kerosene and other fuel-based illumination methods consume an estimated 77 billion litres (20 billion US gallons) of fuel per year, equivalent to
8.0 million gigajoules (1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent) per day.[1][2] This is comparable to annual U.S. jet-fuel consumption of 76 billion litres
(20 billion US gallons) per year.

Incandescent and compact
fluorescent lamp turned on
Type Depends on type of light
Working Luminescence by electricity
principle
Invented Humphry Davy (1809, arc lamp)
First Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison (first demo of
production  incandescent bulb in 1879)
Pin Anode and cathode
configuration 
Electronic symbol

Electric light

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Electric lamp)

"Electric lamp" redirects here. For the item of furniture, see light fixture.

"Light bulb" redirects here. For the music by Fujiya & Miyagi, see Lightbulbs (album).

An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps
usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the socket of a light fixture, which is often called a
"lamp" as well. The electrical connection to the socket may be made with a screw-thread base, two metal pins, two metal caps or a bayonet
cap.
The three main categories of electric lights are incandescent lamps, which produce light by a filament heated white-hot by electric current, gas-
discharge lamps, which produce light by means of an electric arc through a gas, such as fluorescent lamps, and LED lamps, which produce
light by a flow of electrons across a band gap in a semiconductor.

Before electric lighting became common in the early 20th century, people used candles, gas lights, oil lamps, and fires.[1] Vasily Vladimirovich
Petrov developed the first persistent electric arc in 1802, and English chemist Humphry Davy gave a practical demonstration of an arc light in
1806. By the 1870s, Davy's arc lamp had been successfully commercialized, and was used to light many public spaces. [2] Efforts by Joseph
Swan and Thomas Edison led to commercial incandescent light bulbs becoming widely available in the 1880s, and by the early twentieth
century these had completely replaced arc lamps.[3][1]

The energy efficiency of electric lighting has increased radically since the first demonstration of arc lamps and the incandescent light bulb of the
19th century. Modern electric light sources come in a profusion of types and sizes adapted to many applications. Most modern electric lighting
is powered by centrally generated electric power, but lighting may also be powered by mobile or standby electric generators or battery
systems. Battery-powered light is often reserved for when and where stationary lights fail, often in the form of flashlights or electric lanterns, as
well as in vehicles.

A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical device containing an electric lamp that provides illumination.
All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more lamps. The lamps may be in sockets for easy replacement—or, in the case of
some LED fixtures, hard-wired in place.
Fixtures may also have a switch to control the light, either attached to the lamp body or attached to the power cable. Permanent light fixtures,
such as dining room chandeliers, may have no switch on the fixture itself, but rely on a wall switch.
Fixtures require an electrical connection to a power source, typically AC mains power, but some run on battery power for camping or
emergency lights. Permanent lighting fixtures are directly wired. Movable lamps have a plug and cord that plugs into a wall socket.
Light fixtures may also have other features, such as reflectors for directing the light, an aperture (with or without a lens), an outer shell or
housing for lamp alignment and protection, an electrical ballast or power supply, and a shade to diffuse the light or direct it towards a workspace
(e.g., a desk lamp). A wide variety of special light fixtures are created for use in the automotive lighting industry, aerospace, marine
and medicine sectors.[1][2]
Portable light fixtures are often called lamps, as in table lamp or desk lamp. In technical terminology, the lamp is the light source, which, in
casual terminology, is called the light bulb. Both the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the Illuminating Engineering
Society (IES) recommend the term luminaire for technical use.