The etymological origin of the term incandescent is found in Latin. Specifically, it is the result of the sum of the following lexical components of said language:
-The prefix “in-”, which means “no” or “without”.
-The verb “candere”, which is synonymous with “shine”.
-The verbal suffix “-esc-”.
-The suffix “-ente”, which is used to indicate the agent of the action.
This term is used to describe that which, due to the effect of heat , turns red or white .
Among the synonyms of the term in question we find, therefore, words such as ignited, burning, fiery and fiery. On the contrary, among its antonyms we find words like cold or off, for example.
An incandescent lamp , in this framework, is an element that, through the heating of a metal filament, generates light . These lamps, also known as incandescent bulbs , take advantage of the so-called Joule effect to heat a piece of tungsten thanks to the electric current and turn it to white red: that is, a whitish hue due to the high temperature.
Incandescent lamps were invented at the end of the 19th century . They have a glass ampoule or bulb, which is vacuumed or filled with an inert gas. Inside there is a heated tungsten filament, contact wires, a wire to dissipate heat and a cooling duct. The bulb also has an electrical contact foot and insulation.
For a long time, incandescent lamps were among the most used devices for lighting. However, technological development contributed to the discovery of more efficient methods, since these lamps only convert 15% of the electricity they consume into light: the rest is transformed into heat .
Although incandescent bulbs are increasingly being replaced by the aforementioned LEDs, we cannot ignore that they have a series of advantages, among which, fundamentally, they have a more economical price.
Their main disadvantages, in addition to their efficiency, are that they have a much shorter useful life than LED ones, which can reach 7,000 hours on, or the circumstance with the permanent regime. With the latter, what we are referring to is the fact that LEDs manage to reach their maximum brightness very quickly and those do not.
It should be noted that the emission of light produced by the action of heat is called incandescence . Incandescent bodies, in this way, are heated until they emit electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum . A volcano, for example, expels incandescent materials during an eruption , as well as smoke.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that the term we are now addressing is also the title of a song by the famous Spanish rock group Marea. Specifically, this was presented in 2000 within the album “Revolcón”.