How do compact fluorescent Light Bulbs generate light? How do incandescent light bulbs generate light?

Rebecca Kay
Environmental Science
Passaic County Community College
March 1, 2007

Question: How do compact fluorescent Light Bulbs generate light? How do incandescent light bulbs generate light?

Answer:

Compact fluorescent light bulbs
Compact fluorescent light bulbs are made of two parts, the tube in which is filled with gas and the ballast. The glass tube is filled with small amounts of mercury. The glass is coated on the interior with a layer of white phosphor. The electric current or the magnetic current flows through the ballast and then through the gas and then omits a white light.


Electronic ballast of a compact fluorescent lamp
http://www.answers.com/topic/compact-fluorescent-light-bulb
http://www.lightbulbdepot.com/Common/helpdocs/compactFluorescentBulbBase.jpg


Incandescent light bulbs
“An electrical current passes through a thin filament, heating it and causing it to become excited, releasing thermally equilibrated photons in the process. The enclosing glass bulb prevents the oxygen in air from reaching the hot filament, which otherwise would be destroyed rapidly by oxidation.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb

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