ARTIFICIAL SOURCES OF LIGHT Natural light from sun is the best source of light.

However we need artificial sources of light during the periods of absence of natural light. Incandescent Lamps: It is based on the principle that when electric current is passed through fine metallic wire it gets heated and as temperature rises & it radiates light energy. The material of wire selected should have high melting point, low temperature coefficient and high resistivity. Tungston is usually preferred as it has melting temperature of 3500oC and other preferable factors. Construction:

It is formed of a glass globe completely evacuated. The globe has a cap at the top. A tungsten filament remains suspended supported form the cap. The cap is provided with holding pins and power contact points for fixing up with lamp holder. The glass bulb is evacuated to prevent oxidation of filament. However a vacuum filled (evacuated) bulb can work only upto 2000oC without evaporation of filament. Evaporation of filament blackens the inside of bulb and reduces efficiency. The lamp suffers ageing problem as the diameter of filament reduces. To overcome this the bulb is filled with inert gas argon or a mixture of helium and hydrogen. With this the evaporation of filament is controlled upto 2700oC thus getting better heating and light energy. The inert gas however leads to some heat loss due to convection. This heat loss is dependent on exposed surface of filament. To contain this, coiled coil filament is used. With this whole length of filament is more while exposed length is less. Incandescent lamps have low luminous efficiency of 10 lumens per watt. They have poor life of about 1000 hours. They are good in colour rendering. The disadvantage with these lamps is that they radiate heat outside. Also the glare from the filament irritates eyes. With milky white bulbs the filaments are not visible and hence the glare is avoided. Incandescent lamps are voltage sensitive. A 5 percent increase in voltage leads to about 20% more light but about 50% reduction in life. Similarly 5% decrease in voltage gives 20% less life but with no appreciable increase in life. Fluorescent Lamps : Fluorescent lamp contains a tube inside of which is coated with fluorescent powder like phosphor. There are different powders for giving different coloured lights.

The tube is filled with argon gas and a drop of mercury. Oxide coated tungsten filaments are used as electrodes at the two ends of the long tube. The circuit is completed through choke or ballast and a starter. Glow starters are commonly used. It is a voltage operated device and has two bi metallic contacts (electrodes) enclosed in a glass tube filled with argon or mixture of helium and hydrogen. When the supply voltage is applied discharge takes place in the glow starter as their electrodes are closer. The gas inside gets heated and this closes the bi metallic contacts. Current flows through the closed circuit of choke, main electrodes and starter and the main electrodes are heated with this current. Now with closed contacts in the glow starter no more voltage exists between the bi metallic contacts and the discharge ceases. The gas cools down and the contacts open. The circuit is now open and the current does not flow. This making and breaking of circuit momentarily induces high voltage of the order of 1000 volts in the choke which added with supply voltage initiates discharge between the main electrodes through argon gas and the fluorescent lamp starts giving light. Once the discharge is initiated a much lower voltage than normal voltage is sufficient to maintain the discharge. Thereafter the choke acts only to reduce voltage available across the main electrodes. The capacitor connected across the starter helps to suppress electromagnetic waves generated at the gap due to sparking which may have radio interference with other device connected. Fluorescent lamps produces white light. The average life is 7500 hours. The light output is 70 lumens per watt. They have poor colour rendering especially for red colour. Sodium Vapour Lamp: Sodium lamp is a double glass container, the inner glass tube filled with neon gas and some metallic sodium drops. The wiring diagram for a sodium lamp is shown in figure.

When the supply is switched on, the lamp would not start as the supply voltage is too low to start the discharge. The leak transformer connected across the mains produces a starting voltage of about 400V. The neon gas starts the discharge, and afterwards the sodium vapourises and the discharge continues. The discharge in neon gas gives red-

orange glow. Once the metallic sodium vapourises it produces mono-chromatic yellow light. The lamp will come up to its rated light output in approximately 15 minutes. The power factor is very low, about 0.3; hence a capacitor is used to raise it. The efficiency is approximately 75 lumens per watt and the lamp has an average life of 6000 hrs. The lamp must be operated horizontally, or nearly so, to keep the sodium well spread out along the tube. The major application of this type of lamp is for high way and general out door lighting where colour discrimination is not required, such as street lighting, parks, railway yards, storage yards etc. They have very poor colour rendering characteristic. High Pressure Mercury Vapour Lamp: Such lamps consist of an inner discharge tube and an outer evacuated tube. The inner tube is provided with two main electrodes and an auxiliary electrode. It contains a small amount of argon and a little mercury. The wiring diagram of mercury vapour lamps is shown in figure.

When the supply is switched on, the supply voltage is applied across the electrodes, but is not sufficient enough to cause discharge between the two main electrodes. But this voltage is high enough for initiating a discharge over the very short distance between the main electrode and the auxiliary electrode. This discharge then spreads rapidly and sets up discharge between the main electrodes. The argon initiates the discharge, vaporizes the mercury and after some time mercury vapor takes the place. The choke is provided to limit the current to a safe value. This choke lowers the power factor. So a capacitor is connected across the circuit to improve power factor. The lamp gives greenish blue color light. It takes 3 to 4 minutes for the full light output to appear. When the supply is interrupted, the lamp must cool down and the vapor pressure be reduced for it to be restarted. The efficiency of mercury vapour lamp is about 40 lumens per watt. These lamps must be operated vertically, since if they are used horizontally convection will cause the discharge to touch the glass bulb, which will fail. Lamps of this type are used for general industrial lighting, railway yards, ports, work areas, shopping centres etc. They are used flood lights to improve the architectural beauty of buildings, hoardings etc.