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Let's say that the light bulb in the table lamp on your desk has burned
out, and you need to replace it. So, you look in the kitchen cupboard
for a bulb that will give you good light to read and study by. In your
cupboard you find the three light bulb packages shown here. Notice that you have a choice of an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent
bulb, and a halogen bulb. Which bulb is best for the job? When it comes
to selecting the right light bulb for your table lamp, it might be good
to know something about how efficient the different options are. What you get out of something compared to what you put in is known as
efficiency. When it comes to light bulbs, the efficiency of different
bulbs can be compared by looking at how many lumens are produced for each
watt of energy. You can also compare the number of hours the bulbs will
last per watt of energy used.
Does the wattage of a bulb affect how many hours it can remain lit before it burns out? Compare the information on the packages and find out. Fluorescent bulbs are said to last a lot longer than incandescent bulbs. Does your investigation support this claim? What about the longevity of halogen bulbs? How do they compare with incandescent and fluorescent? If you turn on a 60-watt light bulb for only 5 hours per day, how many days will pass before you can expect the bulb to burn out? If you started using the bulb on New Year's Day, will it make it to the 4th of July? Can you think of some other differences between the three types of bulbs? For example, which do you think gets hotter when they are lit? Can they all work with a dimmer switch? do some research and present what you have found out about the three different types of bulbs to your classmates; compare your findings with theirs. |
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