incandescence
Quick Summary
Incandescence is the emission of light by a substance that has been heated to a high temperature. When any solid or gas is heated, it gives off light characteristic of the material.1
Historically, this phenomenon was observed in candles and lamps fueled by whale oil or other combustible materials. The development of electric power led to the creation of electric incandescent lamps, where a filament is heated by an electric current to produce light. Early electric incandescent lamps used carbon filaments, but these were eventually replaced by more efficient tungsten filaments.231
While incandescent lamps were once the primary source of home illumination, their inefficiency has led to a global phase-out in favor of more energy-efficient technologies like fluorescent and LED lamps.1
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