Lighting has been around since time itself existed; the first kind of lighting was fire. Fire was used to warm the inhabitants, and to provide light; many primitive cultures would use burning torches to provide light for their excursions and pathways. Fire was the only true form of light they had other than the moon. Fire had many disadvantages, one was that fire depended on fuel and needed proper conditions to operate (no rain, minimal wind). Another disadvantage is that fire, if not handled properly, could result in a brush fire or even burn down their shelter. An advantage was it was efficient when conditions were correct. It provided an inexpensive form of lighting, and could be used for cooking and heating. Due to the persistent problem of l

Neitzke, Ron. Personal Interview. 16 Feburary 2000.

A fairly new form of lighting is, fiber optics. Fiber optics is not used to illuminate large areas, but instead it is used to create unique displays of light. The displays have pinpoints of light, which are very brilliant. The display can change many colors from white to a brilliant purple to a dark blue all in the matter of seconds. The way this works is there is a powerful bulb in the base of the display. The bulb is positioned behind a rotating disc. The disc has numerous colors placed on it, the colors are the choice of the customer or producer and in many cases can be changed. The disc then rotates in a circle and the light shines on one side of the disc, creating numerous colors. The altered light is then shined directly on a glass fiber. Fiber optic cable is just crushed glass that has been reconstructed into a thin wire of all glass. The light travels through the glass. The glass acts like a tube, if focus's all the light to the very tip of the fiber optic strand. When it reaches the end of the strand it is visible to the human eye, and the light is still very brilliant. These forms of lighting can be found in many movie theaters now and are used to make novelty gifts. Also there is a new advancement in this area of lighting. They use this lighting to illuminate swimming pools; it works the same way just on a larger basis. The fiber optic cables are much thicker and cost significantly more. The pool then changes colors while you have the lights on; it creates a breath taking effect. (Neitzke)

"Why Electro-luminescent lamps." Industrial Tehcnology. Online. Pacbell, 7 January 2000.

There are many kinds of lights that are used only in special situations; one of these kinds of lights is a street lamp. "Originally, the streetlights used were mercury vapor bulbs" (Neitzke). These lights produced a very brilliant white color and provided efficient lighting on the streets. The problem was that astronomers could not see the stars because of light pollution. Light pollution is when the lights illuminate the sky as well as the street. "The astronomer's complaint was taken earnestly and the city changed all the streetlights to high/low pressure sodium lights" (Neitzke). High-pressure sodium lights produce a brighter yellow glow than low sodium lights. These new lights provided a yellowish light and had minimal light pollution. (Neitzke)

"Electro-Luminescents." Memtonik Innovations. Online. Pacific Bell, 7 January 2000. N. pag.

In simpler terms the lamps are very thin and are covered in a clear coat. Inside there is a phosphor layer that is outlined by two conductors on each side. The conductors are powered by one hundred ten volts and thus create the lighting effect. When power is applied the conductors alternate charge (AC CURRENT) when the charge is altered it excites the phosphor. "The phosphor is a good insulator and uses very little current" ("Why Electro-luminescent lamps" 2). The phosphor has such a reaction it starts to produce a soft but brilliant glow evenly across the lamp. Your watch is a good example of an electro-luminescent lamp. Indiglo lighting is produced using electro-luminescent lamps and a transformer, which increases the voltage enabling the Indiglo to work. "The most common applications that this form of lighting i

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Approximate Word count = 2238
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)