Long before the incandescent electric light bulb was invented, arc lamps had given birth to the science of electric lighting. In the early 1800s, when the first large batteries were being built, researchers noticed that electric current would leap...

Searchlights depend on special lenses and reflectors to focus electric light into a pinpoint beam that can illuminate objects thousands of feet away. Since about 1870, carbon arc lamps have been used as the light source for searchlights. During World...

A means of illumination in which the light is generated by an electric current passing between two...

The electric arc in an arc lamp consists of gas which is initially ionized by a voltage and is therefore electrically conductive. To start an arc lamp, usually a very high voltage is needed to "ignite" or "strike" the arc. This requires an electrical...