Today's Presentation:

Engineering, Electricity,
and Edison
Featuring the “Reinventing Edison: Build your own Light Bulb” science kit

July 7th 2010, Centennial Science Center, Raleigh NC

 Presented By:
Author and Presenter:
Bennett M. Harris (Mr. Ben)
(Originator of Reinventing Science kits
and owner of Harris Educational)

Sponsors:
Ewan Prichard, PE
(Director of Industry and Innovation,
NSF FREEDM Systems Center)

Dr. Lisa Grable

(Pre-College Outreach Coordinator,
FREEDM Systems Center)
 Introduction
● Who I am
● Today we will be
– Talking about the Invention of the Light Bulb
– Seeing our own bulb come on
– Talking about Innovation vs. Invention
– Learning a little about Energy and Electricity
● I'll be asking YOU a lot of questions
● I'll be answering your questions too
 Objectives
● After Today's Talk and Demonstration
you should:
– Understand the difference between innovation
and invention
– Have an appreciation for the history of the
development of the Light Bulb
– Know a little more about how a light bulb works
– Have an appreciation for some of the energy
issues YOU will face in your futures.
– Have enjoyed yourselves and want to continue
your education!
 Vocabulary to Listen For
● Innovation ● Conductor
● Invention ● Insulator
● Potential Energy ● Vacuum
● Kinetic Energy ● Dumet
● Resistance ● Expansion
● Volts ● Filament
● Ohms ● Empirical
● Amps ● Incandescence
Has the world always been
as it is today?

The Earth, Photographed from Apollo 17 (NASA)

What are these objects?
Who Invented the Light Bulb?
 Sir Humphrey Davies
● Demonstrated
Incandescence of a
Platinum Filament in
open air in 1802
● Used the most
powerful battery then
in existence
● Further experiments
lead to more
knowledge of
electricity
 Joseph Swan
● First experiments in
1850 using
carbonized paper
filaments in a limited
vacuum
●
December 18th 1878
demonstrated a
carbon filament bulb
to the Newcastle
Chemical Society
● British Patents 1880
 Thomas Alva Edison
●
October 14th 1878 US
Patent 0,214,636 for
“Improvements in
Electric Lamps”
nd
●
October 22 1879
first successful
Carbon Filament
● Other Inventions
include the
Phonograph and
Motion Pictures
 So Why Edison?
● Others Came First
● At least 22 people are
recognized by
historians as having
developed bulbs
● Edison didn't work
alone either (don't
forget the “Muckers”)
 Invention vs. Innovation
● Invention ● Innovation
The first occurrence The first occurrence
of a new idea of taking an idea and
Not all Inventions are making it a working
practical, useful, or reality
needed Put another way:
Solving a problem in
a useful and effective
way
Making the Bulb Come On
Carbon Filament Detail
 How our Bulb Works
● Electricity Primer
– What is Energy and Electrical Energy
– Conductors and Insulators
– Units and Measurement
● Volts (EMF or Potential Energy)
● Amps (Current or Kinetic Energy)
● Ohms (Resistance)
– Parts of our Circuit
● Physical
● Pictorial
● Schematic
 Not just the Electrical
● The Importance of a
Vacuum
● Innovations before
the Invention
● Material Science
● The Whole System
– Generation
– Distribution
– Billing!
 Connecting all this to
Today and Tomorrow

● Energy Generation
● Energy Storage
● Energy Distribution
● Energy Losses
● Energy Conservation
● Tradeoffs and Constraints
● You are the Consumers and potentially the
Inventors and Innovators!
Question and Answer Time
Conclusion and Summary
More Information Available!

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