Batteries and Lightbulbs
Category: Other
Updated: 11 Sep 2018
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Created byJacqueline Xie
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The Voltaic Pile
Alessandro Volta puts together disks of
zinc and silver separated by cloth soaked
in salt water, making a source of an electric
current that didn't need to be recharged.
However downsides included the fact that the
batteries had a short life of an hour, and were
prone to electrolyde leaksThe Daniell Cell Battery
Chemist John Frederic Daniell invents the Daniell
Cell, an improvement on the Volta Pile as it
eliminated some problems such as hydrogen
bubbles. The Daniell Cell uses copper sulphate
in an earthenware container filled with sulfuric
acid and a zinc electroladeLead Acid Batteries
Gaston Planté makes the first rechargeable
battery by passing both a charging and
discharging current through the battery so it
could be reused. The first design includes two
lead sheets with rubber strips between them.The Leclanché Cell
Georges Leclanché creates the Leclanché cell,
made of carbon and zinc in a porous material. It
had a faster absorption rate and greater shelf-
life than previous batteriesThe Leclanché Cell Again
Carl Gassner takes the Leclanché cell and
prolongs the shelf-life even further, patenting it
and making it possible for batteries to start
becoming practical to useThe Nickel-Cadmium Battery
The first nickel-cadmium battery was invented
by Waldermer Jungmer, which is rechargeable
and is the first to use an alkaline electrolyte
giving it better energy density than an acid
batteryThe Edison Battery
Thomas Edison takes the idea of the nickel-
cadamium battery makes a slightly different
version which he patented. The battery found
use in the industrial market due to it's long
shelf-lifeAlkaline Batteries
Lewis Urry helps make the shift from zinc-
carbon batteries to alkaline batteries as they
provide greater energy at higher currents,
extending battery lifeLithium Batteries
Gilbert Newton Lewis starts experimenting with
lithium batteries. They don't become
commercially available until almost a century
laterSony's Lithium Battery
Sony commercialises the lithium battery, one of
the most popular types of rechargeable
batteries todayThe First Electric Arc Lamp
Humphry Davy, and English chemist connects
two wires to a battery and puts a charcoal strip
between them, which glows.A Basic Lamp
Warren de la Rue puts a platinum coil in a tube,
passing an electric current through it. The use of
platinum made it impractical for widespread useElectrical Incandescent Arc Lamp
Is created by Edward Shephard, using a charcoal
filamentThe First Lightbulb
Heinrich Göbel, a watchmaker, creates the first
lightbulb using a bamboo filament inside a glass
bulbMercury Vacuum Pump
The pump, invented by Herman Sprengel,
created a vacuum inside the lightbulb,
eliminating certain gases and reducing
blackeningSir Joseph Swan
The English Physics developed a lightbulb lasting
13 hours using a carbon fibre filamentThomas Edison
Invents a carbon filament lightbulb that could
burn for 40 hours. He used an oxygenless bulb
and his lightbulbs were marketable to the
general population.Argon and Nitrogen Bulb
The efficiency and durability of the bulb is
improved by Irving Langmuir with a tighter
filament coil and argon and nitrogen insideMercury Vapour Lamp
Peter Cooper Hewitt makes a mercury vapour
lamp, a discharge lamp using mercury emitting
a blue/green light, a precursor to the fluorescent
lampLED Bulbs
The most widely used lightbulb type today, Nick
Holonyak invents the first visible spectrum Light-
Emitting Diode
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