Energy & Power
The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.
A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.
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Experimental "Magnetic Arc-Spreading" compact fluorescent lamp
- Description
- The energy crises of the 1970s inspired inventors to try novel ideas for new light bulbs. One of the more unusual designs emerged from the drawing board of Manhattan Project veteran Leo Gross. Supported by Merrill Skeist at Spellman High Voltage Electronics Corporation, Gross designed a compact fluorescent lamp that he called a "magnetic arc spreader" (MAS).
- The design took advantage of a fundamental aspect of electro-magnetism known since the early 1800s. When a current flows through a coil of wire, it produces a magnetic field. The arc discharge that travels between the electrodes of a fluorescent lamp can be affected by the presence of such a field. In the center of the MAS lamp seen here there is a copper coil. Current moving through the coil creates a magnetic field that spreads out the electrical arc within the lamp. The expanded arc energizes phosphor throughout the lamp's entire length.
- The concept was tested at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and General Electric became interested. In 1978 GE purchased a one-year license from Spellman in order to conduct further tests but determined that the necessary glasswork would make the lamp too expensive for commercial production. GE donated one of their test lamps to the Smithsonian in 1998—the only known surviving example of this experimental design.
- Lamp characteristics: No base. Two stranded lead-wires extend about 2" from either end, and each end has one lead wire encased in a glass insulating tube. Two coiled tungsten electrodes are mounted in a hollow cylindrical envelope. The exhaust tip is near one set of leads, and the envelope has an internal phosphor coating. A coil of bare copper wire held together with black string is inserted into the center of the envelope. A current passing thru this coil spreads the arc between electrodes so that more of the phosphor is activated.
- Date made
- ca 1978
- date made
- ca. 1978
- maker
- General Electric Corporate Research & Development Laboratory
- inventor
- Spellman High Voltage Electronics Corp.
- ID Number
- 1998.0050.15
- accession number
- 1998.0050
- catalog number
- 1998.0050.15
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Arc Tube Pre-pinch
- Description (Brief)
- Group of five arc lamp pre-pinches in various states of assembly and one lead fragment.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1965
- maker
- Fridrich, Elmer G.
- ID Number
- 1996.3042.94
- nonaccession number
- 1996.3042
- catalog number
- 1996.3042.94
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Mercury Vapor Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- The second version of the type H-1 mercury vapor lamp utilized a starting electrode inside the arc tube.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1935
- maker
- General Electric Company
- ID Number
- 1997.0387.01
- accession number
- 1997.0387
- catalog number
- 1997.0387.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Carbon Filament Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- Carbon lamp with Truit-style base and two cellulose filaments connected in parallel.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1895
- ID Number
- 1997.0388.58
- catalog number
- 1997.0388.58
- accession number
- 1997.0388
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Carbon Incandescent Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- Carbon filament lamp with four filaments connected in series.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1905
- ID Number
- 1997.0388.70
- catalog number
- 1997.0388.70
- accession number
- 1997.0388
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Carbon Reflector Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- Carbon filament lamp with reflective coating. Inner layer is a silver reflector and the outer layer is a green enamel.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- ID Number
- 1997.0388.73
- catalog number
- 1997.0388.73
- accession number
- 1997.0388
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
High Pressure Sodium Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- Production "SON-AGRO" high pressure sodium lamp in original package. Made to aid plant-growth.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1996
- maker
- Philips Lighting Company
- ID Number
- 1997.0389.06
- accession number
- 1997.0389
- catalog number
- 1997.0389.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Experimental Incandescent Projection Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- Experimental type “DNE” projection lamp.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960
- maker
- GTE Sylvania, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1998.0005.06
- catalog number
- 1998.0005.06
- accession number
- 1998.0005
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Compact Fluorescent Lamp Mock-up
- Description (Brief)
- Wooden mock-up Solenoidal Electric Field lamp made by the inventor at home the evening prior to a program review.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1978
- maker
- General Electric Company
- ID Number
- 1998.0050.01
- accession number
- 1998.0050
- catalog number
- 1998.0050.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Fluorescent Panel Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- Cool-White fluorescent panel-lamp in original package. The envelope is two pieces welded together along the edge.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1973
- maker
- General Electric Company
- ID Number
- 1998.0050.08
- accession number
- 1998.0050
- catalog number
- 1998.0050.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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- Models (representations) 4
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- Energy & Power 568
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