mercury-arc lamp

lamp

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 30, 2026

Quick Summary

A mercury-arc lamp is a type of mercury-vapor lamp. It operates by creating an electric discharge through mercury vapor within a glass or quartz tube. This discharge emits a blue-green light that is rich in actinic and ultraviolet rays.12

These lamps have found various applications, including water sterilization, photography, and as rectifiers. The mercury-arc lamp was marketed in 1901 and proved to be two to three times more energy-efficient than contemporary incandescent lamps. It produced a nearly shadow-free light with less glare, leading to its widespread use for industrial and street lighting.23

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

5 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

lamp
Electric discharge lamps
…Peter Cooper Hewitt marketed the mercury-arc lamp in 1901, the energy efficiency of which proved to be two or three times that of the contemporary incandescent lamp. Creating a nearly shadow-free light and less glare, the lamp immediately found wide use for industrial and street lighting in the United States.
Read More
…Peter Cooper Hewitt marketed the mercury-arc lamp in 1901, the energy efficiency of which proved to be two or three times that of the contemporary incandescent lamp. Creating a nearly shadow-free light and less glare, the lamp immediately found wide use for industrial and street lighting in the United States.
Read More

spectroscopy
Infrared instrumentation
Radiation from a mercury-arc lamp (10–70 cm⁻¹) is employed in the far-infrared region. In a grating-monochromator type instrument, the full range of the source-detector combination is scanned by mechanically changing the grating position. In a Fourier-transform instrument, the range available for a single scan is generally limited by…
Read More
Radiation from a mercury-arc lamp (10–70 cm⁻¹) is employed in the far-infrared region. In a grating-monochromator type instrument, the full range of the source-detector combination is scanned by mechanically changing the grating position. In a Fourier-transform instrument, the range available for a single scan is generally limited by…
Read More