B A S I C S O U RC E S O F

LIGHT
RESEARCH

001

IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT FOR

THE REQUIREMENTS OF ARBU-03

SUBMITTED BY:
GALLARDO, JOSEPHUS R.
BSA 3A
SUBMITTED TO:
AR. ERIC SALIMBAGAT

DEFINITION

Let us first describe what is light before we tackle the different basic
types of light sources. Light is a form of energy that is visible to the human
eye. Light travels in waves, usually in straight lines called rays of light. Every
wave of light has different wavelengths, which form different colors of light.
Rays of light may change direction, bounce off and change speed depending
on the type of material they are passing through. One known fact about light
is that its speed cannot be matched by anything in the universe.

TYPES

OF

BASIC

LIGHT

SOURCES

There are two basic types of light sources humanity has ever known,
they are the Natural Source and the Artificial Source.

Natural Source
- Our main
source of natural
light is the sun.
The sun is a star
that is a huge
ball of gas.
Explosions at the
center of the sun
produce large
amounts of energy. This energy is released as light and heat. Some of this
light reaches Earth and gives us daylight. The light that comes from the
sun is known as white light.
Other forms of natural light include the moon and the stars. The stars
provide only small amounts of light at night as they are billions of
kilometers away from Earth. A full moon, however, can provide quite a lot
of light. The light from the moon is just light reflected from the sun.
Some animals can produce their own light. This is known as
bioluminescence. A chemical reaction is produced in special lightproducing cells. This light is then used in a variety of ways but mainly to
attract other creatures. Glow-worms, fireflies, some fish and mushrooms
are examples of living things that can create their own light.

Artificial light - Humans have been able to create and control light for
thousands of years. The earliest form of lighting was with fire such as
burning wood, candles, gas or oil. Candles were made out of beeswax or
tallow (animal fat). Oil lamps used plant or animal oil and a wick to burn.
Now the most convenient source of artificial light is the electric light.

THE HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHTS

The development of the electric light began in the early 1800s. Many of
the first efforts were dangerous and not very reliable. In 1879 two very
similar electric light bulbs were invented by two different men: one by an
American named Thomas Edison, the other by a British man named Joseph
Swan. Both electric light bulbs had a carbon thread (filament) that glowed
when a current flowed through it. The glass bulb contained so little oxygen
that the filament could become very hot without catching on fire.

TYPES OF ELECTRIC LIGHTS

Electric lights are now used every day and night as an artificial form of light.
There are several different types of electric lights including tungsten filament
light bulbs, neon lights and fluorescent tubes.
1. TUNGSTEN FILAMENT BULBS Tungsten filament bulbs are
cheap to make and easy to use.
They contain a thin metal
filament made out of tungsten (a
type of metal). This filament
becomes very hot when
electricity flows through it and
glows yellow-white. These bulbs last only about 1000 hours because
the filament becomes thinner and thinner as it burns.

2. NEON LIGHTS - A neon

light is commonly used for
advertising. Neon is a gas
that gives out light when
high-voltage electricity is
passed through it. By
changing the electric current, up to five different colors can be
produced in the same tube.
3. FLUORESCENT TUBES - Fluorescent tubes are widely used in the office
and the home.
Fluorescent tubes are
glass tubes that
contain mercury
vapor. When an
electric current is passed through the mercury vapor it gives off
ultraviolet light. This ultraviolet light is absorbed by phosphor powder
that coats the inside of the tube and starts to glow to make a bluewhite light. These lights need special electronic starters to produce the
high voltage needed to start the light.
In the future, electric lights should become more efficient, use less
energy and last a lot longer than they do currently.
4. LASERS - Lasers were first invented in 1960. Laser light is made up of
mainly one wavelength so the laser appears to us as a thin and
powerful beam of light. Laser light is very important to us as it is used
in all sorts of areas including astronomy, entertainment, information

storage and
medicine.
5. INVISIBLE LIGHT
- There are two
types of light that
our eyes cannot
see: infrared and
ultraviolet. Nearly
every living thing
(and very hot objects) give out infrared (IR) light. The sun gives out a
lot of infrared radiation. We feel this infrared light as heat. A lot of
ultraviolet (UV) light also comes from the sun. It is very powerful light
that cannot be seen by humans. UV light is the light that causes
sunburn and can damage our eyes.