100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 21 10 Edison was determined to find the filament

Chapter 210 Edison Unswervingly Finding Filament
——It is actually not easy to firmly walk your own path to accomplish something.In life, you will inevitably encounter people who pour cold water on you. At such times, you must maintain a firm stance and walk your own correct path.

As early as the 19th century, the British physicist David discovered in experiments that when a current passes between two adjacent carbon rods, a strong arc will be emitted.He later invented the arc lamp.He also discovered that when an electric current passes through platinum, it is heated and glows.Based on this discovery, people invented the incandescent lamp.However, because the current problem has not been solved, the development and application of electric lamps have been restricted. In 1831, the British scientist Faraday successfully designed the first generator, which fundamentally solved the power problem.Research on the large-scale application of electric lights is on the agenda.

In the late 19th century, Edison felt that these inventions were unlikely to be applied in real life. He believed that arc lamps were expensive, consumed a lot of power, and the light was dazzling, so they were not suitable for home lighting; while incandescent lamps were cheap and bright. It is soft and harmless to the human body, and is most suitable for home lighting, so he set his research direction on incandescent bulbs.

At that time, the biggest problem in researching incandescent lamps was that the heat-resistant materials in the glass bulbs were hard to find, and ordinary materials would break after burning for a few minutes.

One day, he picked up the glass bulb and looked around. Why can any substance burn for a few minutes?He suddenly remembered: there is air in the bulb, and the air contains oxygen, which can burn matter.What happens if you remove the air from the glass bubble?He immediately carried out an experiment, and the results of the experiment confirmed his speculation. The time for the bulb to illuminate was doubled, but the time was still too short.Edison decided to work on the substance from which the filament was made.

He first used carbon filaments, and then platinum, barium, ruthenium, molybdenum, titanium, zirconium, rhodium and other metals, but the results were not good.For more than a year, he has tried more than 1000 kinds of heat-resistant materials, but he still faces failure.In the face of difficulties, Edison was not discouraged, but the sarcasm of the people around him came to his face, and even some people in the newspapers and periodicals wrote articles expressing their distrust of Edison.An article entitled "What Mr. Edison Invented" reads: "Despite the many irresistible speeches of this impulsive inventor, highly accomplished electrical experts do not think that the experimental road taken by Mr. Edison It is correct." Some newspapers even asserted: "Edison's ambition to develop electric lights has become a bubble."

Edison shrugged off the taunts.He felt that once he chose a path, no matter what hardships he encountered, he must go on.A new experiment started again. By chance, Edison found that the cotton yarn could burn for 45 hours as a filament after it was scorched, which was much stronger than other metals.Following this idea, he experimented with fir, straw, rattan, coconut palm, coconut shell, laurel, boxwood and other fibers. The life of the bulb also increased to 100 hours, 120 hours, 150 hours, and finally rose to 300 hours, this is already a major breakthrough, but Edison is still not satisfied.

By chance again, he discovered that using bamboo as a filament can burn for 1200 hours, and the price of this kind of light bulb can be very low, and can enter ordinary families.As a result, the newspapers that satirized him before also changed their tone, and flowers and various honors flocked to Edison.Edison was not intoxicated, he knew very well that this was just the beginning.

Later, Edison changed the filament into a tungsten filament, and the burning life rose to more than 2000 hours, and the whole world suddenly became brighter.

On October 1929, 10, at the commemorative meeting of the 21th anniversary of Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb, people from all walks of life gathered together.Edison said in an excited voice: "Thank you! Thank you! If I have ever more or less inspired some people's efforts, my work has more or less expanded the range of human understanding, and thus added to the world. joy, and I shall be content.”

Wisdom Interpretation:

Don't ignore other people's criticisms. At the same time, you must have a clear mind and position yourself correctly. If you are not in your position, you don't know what you are doing. The meagerness of others is because they cannot fully understand us.If we stand in the position of being criticized, we should be like Edison. As long as the road and direction are correct, we should not be afraid of what others say, but we should stick to our own direction and never give up.

(End of this chapter)