AAPT Logo
TPT Logo
 
   
 

You are not logged in You are not logged into this journal. Log In

The Physics Teacher -- September 2011 -- Volume 49, Issue 6, pp. 365

The “Green Lab”: Power Consumption by Commercial Light Bulbs

James A. Einsporn1 and Andrew F. Zhou2

1Penn State Electro-Optics Center, Freeport, PA
2Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF | Buy PDF (US$30) | View Cart
Going “green” is a slogan that is very contemporary, both with industry and in the political arena. Choosing more energy-efficient devices is one way homeowners can “go green.” A simple method is to change home lighting from hot incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). But do they really save energy? How do their illuminations compare? Even if the CFLs are more energy efficient, they still add to our pollution problem because of the mercury inside them. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could be the answer, but they are not available at our local stores. Can LEDs be made to screw right into a standard socket? How expensive are they? What are the power consumptions of so-called “60-W” and “100-W” CFL and LED light bulbs? These are the questions that are answered during this lab activity. Students measure the voltage and current for each of the three types of bulbs, and then calculate the electrical power required by each. An optional experiment is to set the light outputs of each bulb so they are equal in intensity, and then determine the power consumed. While not practical in the home, this experiment gives students an understanding of value for their buck.

© 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers

Article Outline

  1. Equipment and setup
  2. Procedure and results
  3. Conclusions
  4. Discussion

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

energy conservation, energy consumption, LED lamps, lighting, physics education, student experiments

PACS

  • 01.50.Pa

    Laboratory experiments and apparatus

  • 01.50.My

    Demonstration experiments and apparatus

  • 88.05.Tg

    Energy use in lighting

  • 85.60.Jb

    Light-emitting devices

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3628267

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.

Figures (2) Tables (5)

Access to article objects (figures, tables, multimedia) requires a subscription; log in to view available files.
(Access to supplementary files, where available, is free for this journal.)

Access to article objects (figures, tables, multimedia) requires a subscription; log in to view available files.
(Access to supplementary files, where available, is free for this journal.)



Close

Your Recent History Recent History Help

Recently Viewed

  1. The “Green Lab”: Power Consumption by Commercial Light Bulbs
  2. Wikis as a Teaching Tool in Physics Classrooms
  3. A Simple Experiment to Explore Standing Waves in a Flexible Corrugated Sound Tube
  4. Optics Demonstration with Student Eyeglasses Using the Inquiry Method
  5. Black and Hispanic Participation in High School Physics Still Low

AAPT on:

close