document_title: List of Tom and Jerry characters

question_text: what was spike's son's name in tom and jerry

question_tokens: what was spike 's son 's name in tom and jerry

text: List of Tom and Jerry characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse[edit]

text: Tom (named "Jasper" in his debut appearance) is a grey and white domestic shorthair cat. "Tom" is a generic name for a male cat. He is usually but not always, portrayed as living a comfortable, or even pampered life, while Jerry (named "Jinx" in his debut appearance) is a small, brown, house mouse who always lives in close proximity to Tom. Despite being very energetic, determined and much larger, Tom is no match for Jerry's wits. Jerry also possesses surprising strength for his size, approximately the equivalent of Tom's, lifting items such as anvils with relative ease and withstanding considerable impacts. Although cats typically chase mice to consume them, it is quite rare for Tom to actually try to consume Jerry. Most of his attempts are just to torment or humiliate Jerry, sometimes in revenge, and sometimes to obtain a reward from a human for catching Jerry. By the final "fade-out" of each cartoon, Jerry usually emerges triumphant, while Tom is shown as the loser.

text: However, other results may be reached.  On rare occasions, Tom triumphs, usually when Jerry becomes the aggressor or when he pushes Tom a little too far. In The Million Dollar Cat Jerry learns that Tom will lose his newly acquired wealth if he harms any animal, "including a mouse;" he then torments Tom a little too much until he retaliates. In Timid Tabby Tom's look-alike cousin pushes Jerry over the edge. Occasionally and usually ironically, they both lose, usually when Jerry's final trap or attack on Tom backfires or Jerry overlooks something. In Chuck Jones' Filet Meow, Jerry orders a shark from the pet store to scare Tom away from eating a goldfish, but finds himself entirely intimidated as well. Finally, they occasionally end up being friends, although within this set of stories, there is often a last minute event that ruins the truce. One story that has friendly ending is Snowbody Loves Me.

text: Both characters display sadistic tendencies, in that they are equally likely to take pleasure in tormenting each other, although it is often in response to a triggering event.  However, when one character appears to truly be in mortal danger from an unplanned situation or due to actions by a third party, the other will develop a conscience and save him. Occasionally, they bond over a mutual sentiment towards an unpleasant experience and their attacking each other is more play than serious attacks. Multiple shorts show the two getting along with minimal difficulty, and they are more than capable of working together when the situation calls for it, usually against a third party who manages to torture and humiliate them both. Sometimes this partnership is forgotten quickly when an unexpected event happens, or when one character feels that the other is no longer necessary. This is the case in Posse Cat, when they agree that Jerry will allow himself to be caught if Tom agrees to share his reward dinner, but Tom then reneges. Other times however, Tom does keep his promise to Jerry and the partnerships are not quickly dissolved after the problem is solved.

text: Tom changes his love interest many times. The first love interest is Toots who appears in Puss n' Toots, and calls him "Tommy" in The Mouse Comes to Dinner.  He is also interested in a cat called Toots in The Zoot Cat although she has a different appearance to the original Toots. The most frequent love interest of Tom's is Toodles Galore, who never has any dialogue in the cartoons.

text: Despite six shorts ending with a depiction of Tom's apparent death, his demise is never permanent; he even reads about his own death in a flashback in Jerry's Diary. He appears to die in explosions in Mouse Trouble (after which he is seen in heaven), Yankee Doodle Mouse and in Safety Second,"Heavenly Puss" while in The Two Mouseketeers he is guillotined offscreen.(except Heavenly Puss,Tom is just having a dream)

text: Hanna-Barbera era[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the theatrical shorts that were directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

text: Spike and Tyke[edit]

text: Spike, occasionally referred to as Butch or Killer, is a stern but occasionally dumb American bulldog who is particularly disapproving of cats, but a softie when it comes to mice (though in his debut appearance, Dog Trouble, Spike goes after both Tom and Jerry), and later, his son Tyke. In the shorts Jerry would often try to get Tom in trouble with Spike making him a shoo-in for a beating from the bulldog. Spike has a few weaknesses that Tom tries to capitalize upon: his possessiveness about his bone and his ticklishness. He made his first appearance in the 1942 Tom and Jerry cartoon Dog Trouble, and his first speaking role was in 1944's The Bodyguard, where he was voiced by Billy Bletcher up until 1949, from which point he was voiced by Daws Butler. Unlike his father Spike, Tyke does not speak. He only communicates by yapping, whimpering, growling, facial expressions and wagging his tail. In Tom and Jerry Kids, Tyke does have a speaking role in the program and is the first time that viewers were able to hear Tyke speak. Spike is very protective towards his son and gets very angry at Tom if Tyke is bothered or harmed. Although Tyke has spoken in Tom and Jerry Kids, he has laughed in one Tom and Jerry short. After Daws Butler, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, John DiMaggio, Michael Donovan, Phil LaMarr and currently Rick Zieff would all perform Spike's voice. Tyke's vocal effects are provided by Frank Welker and speaking roles by Patric Zimmerman.

text: Butch[edit]

text: Butch (voiced by Frank Graham, later Daws Butler due to Graham's death) is a black alley cat who made his first appearance in the Tom and Jerry series in the 1943 short Baby Puss, alongside Topsy and the already-established Meathead. His character, however (along with the character of Toodles Galore), first appeared in the 1941 MGM short The Alley Cat, directed by Hugh Harman, Butch's only solo cartoon. Butch is the leader of the alley cat bullies who are usually friends with Tom and help him catch Jerry. In his first appearance, however, Butch was an antagonist, tormenting Tom after Tom's young girl owner treated him like a baby—to the point of dressing Tom up in a diaper, a bonnet, and pink paw mittens. Thus costumed, Tom couldn't help but be a figure of fun—both for Butch and his gang, and for Jerry. Butch also battles with Tom over Toodles Galore and her affections in a couple of shorts including the 1946 short, Springtime for Thomas and the 1951 short Casanova Cat. In some cartoons, such as A Mouse in the House, Butch battles with Tom to catch Jerry. He is voiced by Maurice LaMarche in Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring, Tony Cervone in The Karate Guard, Colin Murdock in Tom and Jerry Tales, Billy West in Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers, and Joey D'Auria in The Tom and Jerry Show. Butch is usually decipted as a homeless alley/street cat although in the 1956 short, Blue Cat Blues, Butch is apparently a millionaire who wins the attention of Tom's love interest due to his immense wealth much to Tom's dismay. Butch also appears in the Spike and Tyke cartoon Scat Cats as a house cat owned by George and Joan who in the original series own Tom.

text: Toodles Galore[edit]

text: Toodles Galore is an attractive white female cat, and is supposedly Tom's girlfriend, although Tom is a reputed playboy, and had other love interests before and after Toodles. Toodles is the only love interest who appeared more than twice, and is probably the most favored. During the classic era, Tom had to compete twice against Butch and even once against Spike for Toodles's affection, and he lost them all. In Casanova Cat, Toodles fell in love with Jerry. Toodles is one of the most anthropomorphic animals in the series, with the only cat features being her tail, nose and ears. She never speaks and she rarely moves around. However, in The Tom and Jerry Show, her appearance and attitude is shown differently and she is heard speaking for the first time, voiced by Alicyn Packard.

text: Mammy Two Shoes[edit]

text: From the beginning, Tom also has to deal with Mammy Two Shoes (voiced by Lillian Randolph), an African-American domestic housemaid based on Hattie McDaniel. In the earliest shorts, Mammy is depicted as the maid taking care of the often opulent home in which Tom and Jerry reside. Later Tom and Jerry shorts are set in what appears to be Mammy's own house. Her face is never seen (with the exception of 1950s Saturday Evening Puss, in which her face is very briefly seen as she runs towards the camera), and she usually wallops the cat (whom she usually addresses as "Thomas") with a broom when he misbehaves. When Mammy was not present, other humans would sometimes be seen, usually from the neck down as well. Mammy would appear in many cartoons until 1952's Push-Button Kitty; Mammy's character was retired after that year following McDaniel's death. Later cartoons would instead show Tom and Jerry living with a 1950s suburban couple. Soon after, virtually all humans in the series had visible faces.e.g.:Jeanie,Joan,the baby and George.

text: Nibbles[edit]

text: Nibbles (also known as Tuffy) is the little, blue/gray, diaper-wearing orphan mouse who is close to Jerry and appears frequently with him, especially in the comics. His cartoon debut came in the 1946 short The Milky Waif. Nibbles was later featured in the 1949 Academy Award-winning short The Little Orphan.

text: He is sometimes seen as Jerry's nephew, but occasionally referred to as an orphan. In many cartoons, Nibbles is seen eating a lot (he is always hungry). In his first animated appearance, he was left on Jerry's doorstep, abandoned by his parents. Tom enjoys chasing Nibbles much as he does with Jerry.

text: Though the character was created under the name Tuffy for the comics in 1942, his early animated appearances (from 1945) gave him the name Nibbles. From the 1950s, the mouse was called Tuffy on-screen as well. In Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring, the name Nibbles was used again—and the character was depicted as a pet-store mouse whom Jerry doesn't know.

text: In the Mouseketeer shorts, Nibbles speaks in French and English. He also is not Jerry's nephew; rather, he is the son of François Mouse—who does not make an appearance, but his name was given in two letters in the short Touché, Pussy Cat!

text: Nibbles is often mistaken for a girl due to his extraordinarily high pitched voice. He was voiced by Francoise Brun-Cottan in the Mouseketeer shorts, Tara Strong in Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring, Kath Soucie from 2010, onwards, and Nancy Cartwright in War of the Whiskers.

text: Quacker[edit]

text: Another recurring character in the series was Little Quacker the duckling, who was later adapted into the Hanna-Barbera character Yakky Doodle. He appears in Little Quacker, The Duck Doctor, Just Ducky, Downhearted Duckling, Southbound Duckling, That's My Mommy, Happy Go Ducky, and The Vanishing Duck. Quacker talks a lot compared to Tom and Jerry. His voice is a 'duck voice' similar to Disney's Donald Duck. In many shorts, he is the only one who speaks. He's very trusting, even trusting Tom in many situations in which Tom wishes to eat him. He's a friend of Jerry, but unlike Jerry harbors no hard feelings towards Tom. He appeared in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "The Lost Duckling." He also got his own series of shorts on The Yogi Bear Show (renamed Yakky Doodle) after guesting in several Hanna-Barbera TV shows. Quacker was then used as a template for the 'Hard Luck Duck' character starring in the titular character's short from the What a Cartoon! series. His What a Cartoon! counterpart Hard Luck Duck was voiced by Russi Taylor.

text: Quacker was voiced by Red Coffey in the classic shorts, and Charlie Adler in Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers, along with Jerry. He was named "Duckling" in that game.

text: In Tom and Jerry Show, Quacker's "duck voice" is provided by Sam Kwasman.

text: In three cartoons Quacker gets separated from his mother at birth, only to reunite with her later in two of them (Little Quacker and Just Ducky). In That's My Mommy however, he is adopted by Tom. In Little Quacker, Quacker's father, Henry makes an appearance. Because his birth is shown differently in different cartoons, he may have siblings as seen in Just Ducky and Happy Go Ducky.

text: Quacker gets a girlfriend in Downhearted Duckling.

text: Cuckoo[edit]

text: Cuckoo is a canary that first appeared in Kitty Foiled. He also appeared in Puss n' Toots, The Flying Cat, Life with Tom, Hic-cup Pup, Two Little Indians (where he is red in color) and Matinee Mouse. He is Jerry's good friend. Despite being a little bird, he can actually carry heavy objects which is seen in only Kitty Foiled and The Flying Cat.e.g.:a bowling ball,a 2000 kilogram object.

text: Lightning[edit]

text: Lightning is a ginger orange cat who first appeared in the 1948 short Old Rockin' Chair Tom as Tom's rival. Lightning is named as such because in his first short, he practically moved at the speed of lightning. In later cartoons, Lightning often appeared as one of Tom's alley cat buddies/rivals. Lightning has the same character design as Butch Cat, but with an orange color (although his coloring occasionally varies from film-to-film). In Mucho Mouse, he speaks Spanish and is a house cat. He also appears in the Gene Deitch short Switchin' Kitten. In the Chuck Jones short Catty-Cornered (his final appearance), Lightning is portrayed with more of an orange-yellow color than before, with the additional changes of a black tail and ears. Lightning also makes several appearances in Tom and Jerry Tales, often with a red nose and, in two episodes, a bushy tail. Fans have occasionally confused Lightning with Meathead, though the two are not the same and have appeared side-by-side in two cartoons.

text: Topsy[edit]

text: Topsy is a grey/brown Scottish Fold kitten. He is one of Tom's alley cat friends/foes, although in Professor Tom he befriends Jerry. He first appeared in Baby Puss; his final appearance in the original theatrical shorts was in Scat Cats. He also appears in Tom and Jerry Tales with a more yellowish color (similar to Life with Tom). In Professor Tom, Topsy is explicitly a house cat; more often (as in Saturday Evening Puss and elsewhere), he is depicted as an alley cat or a cat of unknown origin.

text: Meathead[edit]

text: Meathead is a brown, mangy alley (or feral) cat who wears a red toupee (which is occasionally seen the same color as the rest of his fur). He is generally portrayed as dull-witted and first appeared in the 1943 short, Sufferin' Cats!, as Tom's rival. He also appears in  Baby Puss and additional shorts as one of Tom's alley cat buddies/foes. He is known as Frankie in Heavenly Puss. In Scat Cats, his final appearance in the original theatrical shorts, he is portrayed with an all-gray color. Fans have occasionally confused Meathead with Lightning, though the two are not the same and have appeared side-by-side in two cartoons.

text: After over nearly six decades of absence, Meathead re-appeared in The Tom and Jerry Show episode Cruisin' for a Bruisin' as a lead antagonist, while a drag version of the character named Meathelda appeared in the episode Hop to It! Meathead also makes multiple appearances in later seasons, usually alongside Butch and other alley cats.

text: George and Joan[edit]

text: George and Joan are an average middle class white couple, who debuted in the 1954 short Pet Peeve. They are the new owners of Tom and Spike, but Tom likes to keep Joan company and Spike likes to keep George company. Joan is often seen either cooking or sitting on her armchair knitting or sewing a dress with Tom keeping her company. George, on the other hand, hates the monthly bills and complains that they're too expensive. But when he's not complaining about the bills, he is sitting in his armchair or on the sofa reading the newspaper wearing his smart purple or grey suit and Spike is keeping him company. Both George and Joan are very kind and polite towards each other and Tom and Spike. In Pet Peeve, George and Joan decided that they keep Jerry as a pet because he is easy to look after and doesn't eat too much (George and Joan do not know Jerry's secret: He eats a lot more than Tom and Spike combined, which explains the amount of food he has in his mouse hole shown later, which mean they lost even more food compared to Tom and Spike.) and tell Tom and Spike to leave. However, in later shorts with George and Joan, Tom and Spike still happily live with them and Jerry is not known by the couple and he is not a pet anymore.

text: In some shorts, Joan appears without George, such as Mouse for Sale, The Flying Sorceress and Mucho Mouse. It could be presumed that George would be working at his office during the settings of these cartoons.

text: George and Joan also appeared in four other Tom & Jerry shorts, Tom's Photo Finish, Busy Buddies, The Vanishing Duck (Quacker's last short) and Tot Watchers.

text: Jeannie and the Baby[edit]

text: Jeannie, the babysitter of George and Joan's baby, is an average teenager who spends much of her time talking on the phone. She is often called on to look after the baby if they're going out. Jeannie proceeds to leap straight onto the phone just as George and Joan shut the front door, which tells us that she is very negligent about her job. Despite this, Jeannie is very kind, friendly, cheerful and rarely loses a smile—except to scold Tom for "bothering the baby", which she thinks he is doing on purpose to annoy her. Jeannie was seen in only two cartoons: Busy Buddies (1956) and  Tot Watchers (1958). Jeannie is voiced by Janet Waldo in the original shorts. The baby also appears in Tom & Jerry Kids where the babysitter is slightly younger and a redhead instead of a blonde.

text: The Ants[edit]

text: The Ants are an army of red ants who steal food as they see them. They appeared in four cartoons Cat Napping, Pup on a Picnic, Barbecue Brawl and Carmen Get It!. They also appeared in Tom & Jerry Kids. They're unusually heavy for their size, and their combined weight often causes many items, such as Tom's hammock, to break. It's unclear how or why the ants are so heavy, as they are even capable of making tables and diving boards shake as they march onto them.

text: Guardian devils[edit]

text: Each guardian devil for Tom and Jerry appeared in three cartoons Sufferin' Cats!, Springtime for Thomas and Smitten Kitten. In the first of these cartoons, one served as evil conscience for Tom and in the other one for Jerry.

text: Goldfish[edit]

text: A tiny goldfish who is friends with Jerry and lives in the same house as Tom and Jerry. She appeared in major roles in Jerry and the Goldfish and Filet Meow. Tom's attempts to eat her lead to Jerry earning her affections. She also appeared in cameo roles in other cartoons namely Puss n' Toots, The Million Dollar Cat, Casanova Cat and The Missing Mouse.

text: Muscles[edit]

text: Muscles is Jerry's cousin and a mouse with incredible strength. In Jerry's Cousin, Muscles appears to hate cats, including Tom. In Haunted Mouse, another mouse named Merlin, who is also a cousin of Jerry's, appears as a wizard with magical abilities. Muscles' final appearance was in Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring, however his name was changed to Freddie and he was hostile towards Jerry. He was voiced by Paul Frees in Jerry's Cousin and by Billy West in Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring.

text: George (cat)[edit]

text: George is the cat counterpart of Muscles but with a personality that is in stark contrast to him. Like Muscles, George is identical to Tom (although he is shorter) and is his cousin. Unlike Muscles, however, George is a coward and is scared of mice. He first appeared at the beginning of Jerry's Cousin where he gets thrashed by Muscles (possibly the reason for his fear of mice). His bigger role was in Timid Tabby where he finally overcomes his fear. He also appeared in Tom and Jerry Kids where his fear seems to have re-instated even though he pretended it has not (his name was changed to Tim in that short).

text: Fluff, Muff and Puff[edit]

text: Fluff, Muff and Puff are a trio of brown, black and orange kittens that first appeared in Heavenly Puss as adorable kittens -who were murdered by drowning- in a cameo role (that happened in Tom's dream). They also appeared in Triplet Trouble as cute but extremely mischievous kittens. They also appeared in The Tom and Jerry Show.

text: Chérie[edit]

text: Chérie is a brown/grey female mouse who serves as Jerry's love interest. She first appeared at the end of Springtime for Thomas, and then later in Smitten Kitten, Touché, Pussy Cat! (only cartoon where she has an identical twin), Tom and Chérie (the first cartoon where she is named) and The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R. (as a ticking time bomb set by Tom).

text: Toots[edit]

text: Toots is the name given to three different characters that have appeared infrequently. The first of these is a fluffy beige cat who appears in Puss n' Toots and The Mouse Comes to Dinner, the latter being her only speaking role. She also has a cameo in Smitten Kitten. This version of Toots also appeared in some 1940s Tom and Jerry comics. Toots is also a different cat by the same name who appears in The Zoot Cat and in the Tom and Jerry Tales episode "Kitty Cat Blues".She has occasionally and erroneously been referred to as "Sheikie", but this is actually Tom's nickname, as seen on a gift card in the cartoon. Finally Toots is the name of a mouse who serves as Jerry's love interest in Blue Cat Blues. Toots also appeared in Love Me, Love My Mouse.

text: King of France[edit]

text: In some of the mouseketeer series of cartoons, Tom serves the king of France. This is an obvious reference to Louis XVI of France, who is shown as an extremely short-tempered and cruel monarch. In The Two Mouseketeers, the king executes Tom while in Royal Cat Nap, he orders for Tom's execution.

text: Mechano cat and Robot-Mouse[edit]

text: Mechano cat first appeared in Push Button Kitty as Tom's rival. Later, Mechano and Robot-Mouse are seen as a cat-like-robot and mouse-like-robot who serve Tom and Jerry (except at the end of Advance and Be Mechanized, when they get revenge and switch roles with Tom and Jerry, as they control their minds and make them do the work) in the three Chuck Jones outer space cartoons O-Solar Meow, Guided Mouse-ille and Advance and Be Mechanized. Mechano's efforts to catch or trap Jerry or Robot-Mouse always backfire for Tom, except in Advance and Be Mechanized, when he succeeds to catch Robot-Mouse in the beginning. In Guided Mouse-ille, he can stand up right and have hands to use a gun with to try and blast Jerry in his mobile tank. This backfired and left Mechano with a black face, while crying in frustration. He sneaks back and promptly shoots Tom, who attempts to shoot Mechano back for his insubordination. However, the shot came out on the wrong end and Tom faints leaving Mechano laughing himself silly. He also appeared in the Tom and Jerry Tales episode "Tin Cat of Tomorrow" where he is named Verminator 7000. Mechano (called "Robot Cat") also appeared as a fighter in the video game, War of the Whiskers, and was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

text: The St. Bernard[edit]

text: The St. Bernard is a dog who first appeared in Puttin' on the Dog and then again in The A-Tom-Inable Snowman. Unlike other dogs in the series, he is not hostile to cats and even attends Tom medically.

text: Eagle[edit]

text: Eagle is an Eagle that tries to steal Jerry for food from Tom. He first appeared in Flirty Birdy, then in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "The Egg and Tom and Jerry" (where he is female instead of male) and then again in Tom and Jerry Tales episode "Bend it like Thomas." Eagle also appeared as a playable character in Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers, voiced by Rob Paulsen.

text: Lion[edit]

text: Lion is a lion that has switched from a tame one in Jerry and the Lion, to a nervous one in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "The Hypochondriac Lion" to a monster in the Tom and Jerry Tales episode "You're Lion." He is also a playable character in Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers where he is voiced by Jim Cummings.

text: Baby Woodpecker[edit]

text: A baby woodpecker that first appeared in Hatch Up Your Troubles and it's remake The Egg and Jerry where it could peck into virtually anything including Tom's stomach, Tom's golf club in Tee for Two or a water pipe as in Landing Stripling. Baby Woodpecker and his Mama would re-appear by making cameo appearances in The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 TV Series).

text: Uncle Pecos[edit]

text: Uncle Pecos is Jerry's Cowboyish uncle who appears in Pecos Pest. He was voiced by Shug Fisher. He is known to always play with a guitar and wears a black cowboy hat that covers his eyes. He plucks one of Tom's whiskers off to replace broken strings on the guitar. Being from Texas, he is shown to be super strong.

text: Uncle Pecos returned in the Tom and Jerry Tales episode "Cry Uncle", voiced by Scott McNeil. In the episode, he arrives at Tom and Jerry's house and annoys Tom and Jerry with his music. He later leaves with Auntie Spinner in the end of the episode. Uncle Pecos made his second return in  The Tom and Jerry Show, voiced by Stephen Stanton. He appears in the Season 2 episodes, "I Quit", "Uncle Pecos Rides Again" and "Cat-A-Tonic Mouse".

text: Radio[edit]

text: A radio with a male human voice that broadcasts music, cookery show and warnings on escaped animals, bomb threats etc. In Jerry's Diary, the radio is shown to be anthropomorphic (with the announcer's name as 'Uncle Dudley') but this is not the case with other cartoons. The radio's announcements often cause troubles for Tom (The Missing Mouse, Jerry and the Lion, Little Runaway and Down Beat Bear), fear (Fraidy Cat), embarrassment (Jerry's Diary and Life with Tom) or may be the cause of evil intentions (Jerry and the Goldfish).

text: Radio has been voiced by Martha Wentworth in Fraidy Cat, by Paul Frees in The Missing Mouse and Jerry and the Lion and by Joseph Forte in Jerry's Diary. Other voice actors such as Daws Butler in Jerry and the Goldfish have been uncredited.

text: Jackass[edit]

text: Unlike other Tom and Jerry characters, this one is not a character per se, but rather an avatar of a popular character such as Spike. Usually, a character turns into a jackass when it is fooled such as Spike in Solid Serenade, The Framed Cat and Pet Peeve or Tom in Polka Dot Puss. In Pup on a Picnic, the word 'Sucker' is used instead of 'Jackass'.

text: Gene Deitch era[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the theatrical shorts that were directed by Gene Deitch in the 1960s.

text: DeWitt Clinton 'Clint' Clobber[edit]

text: An overweight, average height, middle-aged, bald white man became Tom's owner in three of the thirteen cartoons in Down and Outing, High Steaks and Sorry Safari. Just like Spike the Bulldog, he has very severe anger issues and is repeatedly violent towards Tom for his actions.

text: There is some debate as to whether this is the genuine Clint Clobber as the real Clint would never be an animal abuser, he was just a put-upon grouch.

text: Mad Scientist[edit]

text: He is a mad scientist reminiscent of Frankenstein. He first appeared in Switchin' Kitten and subsequently was the subject of a number of television episodes (for e.g. 'Trojan Dog' in Tom and Jerry Comedy Show) and movies thereafter. In his first appearance, the mad scientist is the owner of Jerry(who is also his assistant) and has numerous cats trapped in a prison. When Jerry picks an orange cat named Lightning, the other cats flee in terror as the scientist pulls him out for his latest experiment. He switches the mind of the orange cat with that of a bulldog and presents him as his present to Jerry.

text: Thin Lady[edit]

text: An unnamed thin white lady became Tom's owner in Buddies Thicker Than Water. Gene Deitch opted not to use Mammy's character in his shorts, as he felt a "stereotypical black housekeep" character "didn't work in a modern context."[1] Chuck Jones would also use her in The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse and in the re-animated version of Saturday Evening Puss. She also appeared in the movie Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry. Like many other early human characters, her face was never shown.

text: Chuck Jones era[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the theatrical shorts that were produced by Chuck Jones in the 1960s.

text: Tiny Bulldog[edit]

text: This nameless mouse-sized bulldog, designed similarly to Spike the Bulldog, is Jerry's pet dog companion in only two shorts: The Cat's Me-Ouch and Purr-Chance to Dream. His role is similar to Spike in cartoons such as The Bodyguard, Fit To Be Tied, and Much Ado About Mousing, which is to defend Jerry against Tom. He is presumably the oldest son of Spike before Tyke, and this could be identified by his looks and personality that is similar to his father Spike. Unlike Spike and Tyke he has a big bite (similar to those of Looney Tunes' Tasmanian Devil).

text: Porpoise[edit]

text: A shark who tries to eat Tom and Jerry. He appears in Cannery Rodent, Puss 'n' Boats, Filet Meow and Surf-Bored Cat. The creature's color and species varies, in Cannery Rodent and Surf-Bored Cat it is a blue shark, while in Filet Meow and Puss 'n' Boats it is a great white shark.

text: Porpoise also appeared in the Tom and Jerry Comedy Show episode A Connecticut mouse in King Arthur's court.

text: Kitten[edit]

text: A cute red and white kitten who appears in The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse. She is owned by a lady in the house. The kitten befriends Jerry, but earns the enmity of a jealous Tom who tries to throw her out twice. This only succeeds in getting him kicked out after Jerry rescues her by holding up a pillow for her to land in. In the end, Tom is forced to act as both his and the kitten's slave.

text: The Tom and Jerry Show[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the 1975 television series The Tom and Jerry Show.

text: Boo-Boo[edit]

text: Boo-Boo is the very big English sheep dog puppy of a rich lady who hires Tom and Jerry as dog walkers. He only appears in Towering Fiasco. Note that Boo-Boo chases a cat during their walk, but he accepts Tom, who is also a cat. The title Towering Fiasco is derived from Irwin Allen's 1974 20th Century-Fox/Warner Bros. disaster movie The Towering Inferno, starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. The idea for the cartoon itself is based on the Tom-and-Jerry cartoon Tot Watchers. Towering Fiasco originally ended with the lady inviting Tom and Jerry to come again the next day, but after a walk during which Boo-Boo kept running into trouble they react in horror and flee. In the new version, she asks them to walk him again right now, Boo-Boo runs off, chasing a small gnat, dragging Tom and Jerry behind him.

text: Broke[edit]

text: A gopher that devours vegetables in Gopher Broke. He appeared in the cartoon's sequel The Son of Gopher Broke. He also appeared in Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.

text: Robin Ho Ho and his merry men[edit]

text: A parody of Robin Hood and his merry men, they appeared in Robin Ho Ho. They also appeared in Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse.

text: Sheriff of Nottingham[edit]

text: The primary antagonist in Robin Ho Ho and also in Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse. He is based on the character from Robin Hood tales.

text: Yvonne Jockalong[edit]

text: Love interest to both Tom and Jerry, she appears in Sky Bunny and The Tennis Menace.

text: Sergeant Farce[edit]

text: A police officer who appears in See Dr. Jackal and Hide and in The Police Kitten where he is the superior officer to both Tom and Jerry.

text: Alley Cat Gang[edit]

text: The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the television series The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.

text: Droopy[edit]

text: A Basset Hound often with a miserable look on his face, originally introduced in the Tex Avery shorts of the 1940s. He first made a poster cameo in Matinee Mouse. He also appeared in the Droopy and Dripple segments of Tom and Jerry Kids. He is sometimes an adversary of Spike. He would also appear in Tom and Jerry Tales and would appear in the direct-to-video films.

text: Barney Bear[edit]

text: An anthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy bear who often is in pursuit of nothing but peace and quiet, originally introduced in the Harman-Ising shorts of the 1930s. He would also appear in the direct-to-video films.

text: McWolf[edit]

text: McWolf, initially named 'Slick Wolf' is the villain of the "Droopy and Dripple" segments. A bad and cruel wolf whose only mission is to ruin the life of Droopy (and Dripple and sometimes to remain with Miss Vavoom in Tom & Jerry Kids). Sometimes for of crazy scientist whom it loves to dominate the world, of space villain, a criminal fat person (known as "The Chubby Man"), etc. His character is based on the wolf in Red Hot Riding Hood. He is voiced by Frank Welker.

text: Tom & Jerry Kids[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the television series Tom & Jerry Kids.

text: Dripple[edit]

text: The son of Droopy, essentially an older version of the infant pup from Homesteader Droopy. He is always with his father and they always do the same (although sometimes Dripple thinks “better” than his father). The identity of his mother is never mentioned or even addressed, although, due to Droopy's frequent relationships with Miss Vavoom, it can be assumed that his mother is either dead or is divorced from Droopy with no visitation rights prior to the events of the series. He is voiced by Charlie Adler.

text: Miss Vavoom[edit]

text: The contiguous woman of the show. She is very seductive and she always takes different hairdos. She always is conquered by Droopy and most of times is the greater target of McWolf. Sometimes she is called Bubbles Vavoom, Ultra Vavoom, Sugar Vavoom, etc. Her character is based on Red from Red Hot Riding Hood. She is voiced by Teresa Ganzel.

text: Calaboose Cal[edit]

text: A gold cat owner of a show of demonstration and participation. He is arrogant (sometimes), has a rancher accent, and is sometimes presented as an enemy to Tom. Purportedly inspired by legendary Southern California car dealer Cal Worthington. He is voiced by Phil Hartman.

text: Urfo[edit]

text: Urfo is a six-legged alien dog that arrives on Earth many times and helps Jerry fend off Tom. His owners often send people to retrieve him.

text: Clyde[edit]

text: A fat cat that often one puts in problems, and when Tom and Jerry save him, he promises to be their better friend (Although for Tom and Jerry he is like a punishment). Voiced by Brian Cummings.

text: Kyle the Cat[edit]

text: A mangy orange cat that first appeared as the antagonist of Spike and/or Tyke. Voiced by Pat Fraley.

text: Bernie the Swallow[edit]

text: A medically challenged yellow swallow that is friends with Jerry in "Hard to Swallow". He had a color change to blue in "Swallow the Swallow" and "Grab that Bird" as he is chased mostly by Clyde and Kyle. Voiced by David L. Lander.

text: Wild Mouse[edit]

text: A grayish-green, shaggy fanged mouse who occasionally replaces Jerry and outwits his foes. Like Tom and Jerry, Wildmouse is voiced by Frank Welker. He first appears in the episode "Wildmouse" and is last seen in the episode "King Windmouse."

text: Moncy[edit]

text: A cougar who loves tormenting Spike and Tyke. He wants to eat Tyke's lunch (and Spike prevents him). He was voiced by Frank Welker.

text: Sheriff Potgut[edit]

text: The elderly sheriff of Hokey Finokey Swamp. He is arrogant, rude, and self-centered. He threatened to send Swampy back to the circus (which Swampy is aware of the fact that it promotes animal cruelty), throwing Swampy into tears. He also envies the map Swampy made out to search for the hidden treasure. He appears in the episode "Cajun Gumbo" as the episode's main antagonist. Aside from the lone episode where he battled Swampy, the Sheriff and the Gator Brothers were also used as antagonists in an episode featuring Wild Mouse.

text: Gator Brothers[edit]

text: Sheriff Potgut's henchmen. They appear in the episode "Cajun Gumbo" as antagonists and in another episode featuring Wild Mouse.

text: Stinky Jr. McWolf[edit]

text: Stinky Jr. is the son of McWolf who has the same personality as him.

text: Screwball Squirrel[edit]

text: Screwball Squirrel is based on the original Screwball "Screwy" Squirrel in 1944, but now his adventures take place in a public city park, as he messes with hot-headed park attendant Dweeble and his dumb guard dog, Rumpley. He was voiced by Charlie Adler. He would also appear in one direct-to-video film, Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure, voiced by Paul Reubens. He would also make a cameo appearance in the Season 3 episode of The Tom and Jerry Show, "Kid Stuff".

text: Lightning Bolt the Super Squirrel[edit]

text: A squirrel superhero. He is a rather campy and flamboyant superhero who throws lightning bolts. He also speaks with a slight Minnesotan accent and appeared in the spin-off series Droopy, Master Detective. He was voiced by Charlie Adler.

text: Tom and Jerry Tales[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the television series Tom and Jerry Tales.

text: Morizzio[edit]

text: Morizzio is a very amorous octopus gentleman who first appeared in the 1953 musical film Dangerous When Wet. In Octo Sauve, Tom encounters him, who mistakes Tom for a mermaid. Morizzio wants to date Tom, and they end up getting lost in the sea.

text: Princess[edit]

text: Nicole Bouma voiced the princess in Tom and Jerry Tales. The princess appears in Medieval Menace where she kisses Tom, who has turned into a frog, thinking he is a prince transformed by a spell.

text: Sniffles[edit]

text: Geraldine Mouse[edit]

text: Thomasina Cat[edit]

text: Baby Booties[edit]

text: The Tom and Jerry Show[edit]

text: The following characters were introduced in the 2014 television series Tom and Jerry Show.

text: Rick and Ginger[edit]

text: Tom's new owners are Rick and Ginger, a middle-class couple similar to George and Joan. Much like the original couple, the husband is more sympathetic towards Spike while the wife favors Tom. Rick is stouter in appearance when compared to George. Unlike Joan and George, their faces are never seen.

text: Napoleon[edit]

text: Napoleon is a small rat with grey fur. He has light pink ears, light pink hands, feet and tail and has black eyes.

text: Hamster[edit]

text: The Hamster is a small "anti-social, overachieving" hamster with light brown fur. He wears glasses and is the smartest hamster in the lab.

text: Newt[edit]

text: Newt is a newt with orange skin. He has yellow spots and long feet. He wears a black eye-patch over his right eye and has green eyes with a black pupil.

text: Bot[edit]

text: Bot is a robot that cleans the lab with its vacuum cleaner and control arm. It has a red screen that spots trash all over the lab and most often mistakes Tom as such out of its programming.

text: Beatie and Hildie[edit]

text: Beatie and Hildie are witch sisters who act as Tom and Jerry's medieval owners.

text: The Detective[edit]

text: The detective is a detective who is the owner of Tom (and presumably Jerry too). In his absence, Tom and Jerry work as sleuths themselves, in the process using his name and fame. He appeared in "Feline Fatale", "One of a Kind", "Haunted Mouse", "Sleuth or Consequences", "Poof!", "Bone Dry", "Cat Napped", and "Curse Case Scenario".

text: Dr. Bigby[edit]

text: Dr. Bigby is an eccentric scientist whose experiments don't always often go according to plan (with Jerry and Napoleon usually being the only ones to see the results).

text: Skid[edit]

text: Skid is an orange cat that was always the great leader and also always makes the election of the Top cat. Both Tom and Butch compete for the Golden Fez in the United Mouse Catchers when they both attempt to capture Jerry.

text: Tom and Jerry movies[edit]

text: The following recurring characters were introduced in the various Tom and Jerry movies.

text: Biff Buzzard and Buzz Blister[edit]

text: Biff Buzzard and Buzz Blister are characters in Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry and Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars. In Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, they were news reporters. In Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars, they were astronauts. Biff is voiced by Billy West and Buzz by Jess Harnell.

text: Tin, Pan and Alley[edit]

text: Tin, Pan and Alley are a trio of male Siamese cats created especially for the new direct-to-video films, they are secondary antagonists in Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse, Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure, Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon and Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, acting as henchmen for the main antagonists. In their first appearance in Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, they are local gravediggers who work for Professor Moriarty. In Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse, they work for Prince John. In Tom and Jerry: The Lost Dragon, they are the Hench-cats of Drizelda. In Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, they are seen working for Doctor Zin. They also make an appearance in Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. They were named after the Warner Bros. 1943 short Tin Pan Alley Cats. Tin is voiced by Greg Ellis, Pan by Jess Harnell and Alley by Richard McGonagle.

text: Butch (dog)[edit]

text: Butch (Originally known as Spike, until renamed as Butch to avoid confusion with Spike from the Tom and Jerry cartoons) is the name of another bulldog from Tex Avery's shorts in the 1940s and 1950s. He was one of the main antagonists in Droopy shorts (although he was replaced by Hanna-Barbera's Spike in the 1980s) and also had a series of his own. He appears in a number of movies e.g. Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz and Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring.


document_title: Incandescent light bulb

question_text: when was the first incandescent light bulb invented

question_tokens: when was the first incandescent light bulb invented

root

text: Incandescent light bulb

text: History

text: In addressing the question of who invented the incandescent lamp, historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison.[8] They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

tag: p

text: Historian Thomas Hughes has attributed Edison's success to his development of an entire, integrated system of electric lighting.

text: The lamp was a small component in his system of electric lighting, and no more critical to its effective functioning than the Edison Jumbo generator, the Edison main and feeder, and the parallel-distribution system. Other inventors with generators and incandescent lamps, and with comparable ingenuity and excellence, have long been forgotten because their creators did not preside over their introduction in a system of lighting.

text: [show]Timeline of the early evolution of the light bulb[11]

tag: table

text: Early pre-commercial research

text: In 1761 Ebenezer Kinnersley demonstrated heating a wire to incandescence.[12]

text: In 1802, Humphry Davy used what he described as "a battery of immense size",[13] consisting of 2,000 cells housed in the basement of the Royal Institution of Great Britain,[14] to create an incandescent light by passing the current through a thin strip of platinum, chosen because the metal had an extremely high melting point. It was not bright enough nor did it last long enough to be practical, but it was the precedent behind the efforts of scores of experimenters over the next 75 years.[15]

text: Over the first three-quarters of the 19th century many experimenters worked with various combinations of platinum or iridium wires, carbon rods, and evacuated or semi-evacuated enclosures. Many of these devices were demonstrated and some were patented.[16]

text: In 1835, James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated a constant electric light at a public meeting in Dundee, Scotland. He stated that he could "read a book at a distance of one and a half feet". However, having perfected the device to his own satisfaction, he turned to the problem of wireless telegraphy and did not develop the electric light any further. His claims are not well documented, although he is credited in Challoner et al. with being the inventor of the "Incandescent Light Bulb".[17]

text: In 1838, Belgian lithographer Marcellin Jobard invented an incandescent light bulb with a vacuum atmosphere using a carbon filament.[18]

text: In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue enclosed a coiled platinum filament in a vacuum tube and passed an electric current through it. The design was based on the concept that the high melting point of platinum would allow it to operate at high temperatures and that the evacuated chamber would contain fewer gas molecules to react with the platinum, improving its longevity. Although a workable design, the cost of the platinum made it impractical for commercial use.

text: In 1841, Frederick de Moleyns of England was granted the first patent for an incandescent lamp, with a design using platinum wires contained within a vacuum bulb. He also used carbon.[19][20]

text: In 1845, American John W. Starr acquired a patent for his incandescent light bulb involving the use of carbon filaments.[21][22] He died shortly after obtaining the patent, and his invention was never produced commercially. Little else is known about him.[23]

text: In 1851, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin publicly demonstrated incandescent light bulbs on his estate in Blois, France. His light bulbs are on display in the museum of the Château de Blois.[24]

text: In 1872, Russian Alexander Lodygin invented an incandescent light bulb and obtained a Russian patent in 1874. He used as a burner two carbon rods of diminished section in a glass receiver, hermetically sealed, and filled with nitrogen, electrically arranged so that the current could be passed to the second carbon when the first had been consumed.[25] Later he lived in the US, changed his name to Alexander de Lodyguine and applied and obtained patents for incandescent lamps having chromium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, molybdenum and tungsten filaments,[26] and a bulb using a molybdenum filament was demonstrated at the world fair of 1900 in Paris.[27]

text: Heinrich Göbel in 1893 claimed he had designed the first incandescent light bulb in 1854, with a thin carbonized bamboo filament of high resistance, platinum lead-in wires in an all-glass envelope, and a high vacuum. Judges of four courts raised doubts about the alleged Göbel anticipation, but there was never a decision in a final hearing due to the expiry date of Edison's patent. A research work published 2007 concluded that the story of the Göbel lamps in the 1850s is a legend.[28]

text: On 24 July 1874, a Canadian patent was filed by Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans for a lamp consisting of carbon rods mounted in a nitrogen-filled glass cylinder. They were unsuccessful at commercializing their lamp, and sold rights to their patent (U.S. Patent 0,181,613) to Thomas Edison in 1879.[29][30]

text: Commercialization

text: Dominance of carbon filament and vacuum

text: Joseph Swan (1828–1914) was a British physicist and chemist. In 1850, he began working with carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he was able to demonstrate a working device but the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a short lifetime for the bulb and an inefficient source of light. By the mid-1870s better pumps became available, and Swan returned to his experiments.[31]

text: With the help of Charles Stearn, an expert on vacuum pumps, in 1878, Swan developed a method of processing that avoided the early bulb blackening. This received a British Patent in 1880.[32][dubious – discuss] On 18 December 1878, a lamp using a slender carbon rod was shown at a meeting of the Newcastle Chemical Society, and Swan gave a working demonstration at their meeting on 17 January 1879. It was also shown to 700 who attended a meeting of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne on 3 February 1879.[33] These lamps used a carbon rod from an arc lamp rather than a slender filament. Thus they had low resistance and required very large conductors to supply the necessary current, so they were not commercially practical, although they did furnish a demonstration of the possibilities of incandescent lighting with relatively high vacuum, a carbon conductor, and platinum lead-in wires. This bulb lasted about 40 hours.[34] Swan then turned his attention to producing a better carbon filament and the means of attaching its ends. He devised a method of treating cotton to produce 'parchmentised thread' in the early 1880s and obtained British Patent 4933 that same year.[32] From this year he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house, Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead, was the first in the world to be lit by a lightbulb and also the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power. In 1878 the home of Lord Armstrong at Cragside was also among the first houses to be lit by electricity. In the early 1880s he had started his company.[35] In 1881, the Savoy Theatre in the City of Westminster, London was lit by Swan incandescent lightbulbs, which was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity.[36] The first street in the world to be lit by an incandescent lightbulb was Mosley Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It was lit by Joseph Swan's incandescent lamp on 3 February 1879.[37][38]

text: Thomas Edison began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp in 1878. Edison filed his first patent application for "Improvement In Electric Lights" on 14 October 1878.[39] After many experiments, first with carbon in the early 1880s and then with platinum and other metals, in the end Edison returned to a carbon filament.[40] The first successful test was on 22 October 1879,[41][42] and lasted 13.5 hours. Edison continued to improve this design and by 4 November 1879, filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires."[43] Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways,"[43] Edison and his team later discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last more than 1200 hours.[44] In 1880, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company steamer, Columbia, became the first application for Edison's incandescent electric lamps (it was also the first ship to use a dynamo).[45][46][47]

text: Albon Man, a New York lawyer, started Electro-Dynamic Light Company in 1878 to exploit his patents and those of William Sawyer.[48][49] Weeks later the United States Electric Lighting Company was organized.[48][49][50] This company didn't make their first commercial installation of incandescent lamps until the fall of 1880 at the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company in New York City, about six months after the Edison incandescent lamps had been installed on the Columbia. Hiram S. Maxim was the chief engineer at the United States Electric Lighting Company.[51]

text: Lewis Latimer, employed at the time by Edison, developed an improved method of heat-treating carbon filaments which reduced breakage and allowed them to be molded into novel shapes, such as the characteristic "M" shape of Maxim filaments. On 17 January 1882, Latimer received a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of light bulb filaments, which was purchased by the United States Electric Light Company.[52] Latimer patented other improvements such as a better way of attaching filaments to their wire supports.[53]

text: In Britain, the Edison and Swan companies merged into the Edison and Swan United Electric Company (later known as Ediswan, and ultimately incorporated into Thorn Lighting Ltd). Edison was initially against this combination, but after Swan sued him and won, Edison was eventually forced to cooperate, and the merger was made. Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan's interest in the company. Swan sold his US patent rights to the Brush Electric Company in June 1882.

text: The United States Patent Office gave a ruling 8 October 1883, that Edison's patents were based on the prior art of William Sawyer and were invalid. Litigation continued for a number of years. Eventually on 6 October 1889, a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.[54]

text: In 1896 Italian inventor Arturo Malignani (1865–1939) patented an evacuation method for mass production, which allowed obtaining economic bulbs lasting 800 hours. The patent was acquired by Edison in 1898.[31]

text: In 1897, German physicist and chemist Walther Nernst developed the Nernst lamp, a form of incandescent lamp that used a ceramic globar and did not require enclosure in a vacuum or inert gas.[55][56] Twice as efficient as carbon filament lamps, Nernst lamps were briefly popular until overtaken by lamps using metal filaments.

text: Revolution of the tungsten filament, inert gas, and the coiled coil

text: On 13 December 1904, Hungarian Sándor Just and Croatian Franjo Hanaman were granted a Hungarian patent (No. 34541) for a tungsten filament lamp that lasted longer and gave brighter light than the carbon filament.[31] Tungsten filament lamps were first marketed by the Hungarian company Tungsram in 1904. This type is often called Tungsram-bulbs in many European countries.[57] Filling a bulb with an inert gas such as argon or nitrogen retards the evaporation of the tungsten filament compared to operating it in a vacuum. This allows for greater temperatures and therefore greater efficacy with less reduction in filament life.[58]

text: In 1906, William D. Coolidge developed a method of making 'ductile tungsten' from sintered tungsten which could be made into filaments while working for General Electric Company. By 1911 General Electric began selling incandescent light bulbs with ductile tungsten wire.

text: In 1913, Irving Langmuir found that filling a lamp with inert gas instead of a vacuum resulted in twice the luminous efficacy and reduction of bulb blackening.

text: In 1917, Burnie Lee Benbow was granted a patent for inventing the coiled coil filament.[59] In 1921, Junichi Miura created the first double-coil bulb using a coiled coil tungsten filament while working for Hakunetsusha (a predecessor of Toshiba). At the time, machinery to mass-produce coiled coil filaments did not exist. Hakunetsusha developed a method to mass-produce coiled coil filaments by 1936.[60]

text: In 1924, Marvin Pipkin, an American chemist, patented a process for frosting the inside of lamp bulbs without weakening them, and in 1947, he patented a process for coating the inside of lamps with silica.

text: Between 1924 and the outbreak of the Second World War, the Phoebus cartel attempted to fix prices and sales quotas for bulb manufacturers outside of North America.

text: In 1930, Hungarian Imre Bródy filled lamps with krypton gas rather than argon, and designed a process to obtain krypton from air. Production of krypton filled lamps based on his invention started at Ajka in 1937, in a factory co-designed by Polányi and Hungarian-born physicist Egon Orowan.[61]

text: By 1964, improvements in efficiency and production of incandescent lamps had reduced the cost of providing a given quantity of light by a factor of thirty, compared with the cost at introduction of Edison's lighting system.[62]

text: Consumption of incandescent light bulbs grew rapidly in the US. In 1885, an estimated 300,000 general lighting service lamps were sold, all with carbon filaments. When tungsten filaments were introduced, about 50 million lamp sockets existed in the US. In 1914, 88.5 million lamps were used, (only 15% with carbon filaments), and by 1945, annual sales of lamps were 795 million (more than 5 lamps per person per year).[63]

text: Efficacy, efficiency, and environmental impact

text: Of the power consumed by typical incandescent light bulbs, 95% or more is converted into heat rather than visible light.[1] Other electrical light sources are more effective.

text: Luminous efficacy of a light source may be defined in two ways. The radiant luminous efficacy (LER) is the ratio of the visible light flux emitted (the luminous flux) to the total power radiated over all wavelengths. The source luminous efficacy (LES) is the ratio of the visible light flux emitted (the luminous flux) to the total power input to the source, such as a lamp.[64] Visible light is measured in lumens, a unit which is defined in part by the differing sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths of light. Not all wavelengths of visible electromagnetic energy are equally effective at stimulating the human eye; the luminous efficacy of radiant energy (LER) is a measure of how well the distribution of energy matches the perception of the eye. The units of luminous efficacy are "lumens per watt" (lpw). The maximum LER possible is 683 lm/W for monochromatic green light at 555 nanometers wavelength, the peak sensitivity of the human eye.

text: The luminous efficiency is defined as the ratio of the luminous efficacy to the theoretical maximum luminous efficacy of 683 lpw, and, as for luminous efficacy, is of two types, radiant luminous efficiency (LFR) and source luminous efficacy (LFS).[65][66]

text: The chart below lists values of overall luminous efficacy and efficiency for several types of general service, 120-volt, 1000-hour lifespan incandescent bulb, and several idealized light sources. The values for the incandescent bulbs are source efficiencies and efficacies. The values for the ideal sources are radiant efficiencies and efficacies. A similar chart in the article on luminous efficacy compares a broader array of light sources to one another.

text:
Type
Overall luminous efficiency
Overall luminous efficacy (lm/W)

40 W tungsten incandescent
1.9%
12.6[1]

60 W tungsten incandescent
2.1%
14.5[1]

100 W tungsten incandescent
2.6%
17.5[1]

glass halogen
2.3%
16

quartz halogen
3.5%
24

photographic and projection lamps with very high filament temperatures and short lifetimes
5.1%
35[67]

ideal black-body radiator at 4000 K (or a class K star like Arcturus)
7.0%
47.5

ideal black-body radiator at 7000 K (or a class F star like Procyon)
14%
95

ideal monochromatic 555 nm (green) source
100%
683[68]

text: The spectrum emitted by a blackbody radiator at temperatures of incandescent bulbs does not match the sensitivity characteristics of the human eye; the light emitted does not appear white, and most is not in the range of wavelengths at which the eye is most sensitive. Tungsten filaments radiate mostly infrared radiation at temperatures where they remain solid – below 3,695 K (3,422 °C; 6,191 °F). Donald L. Klipstein explains it this way: "An ideal thermal radiator produces visible light most efficiently at temperatures around 6,300 °C (6,600 K; 11,400 °F). Even at this high temperature, a lot of the radiation is either infrared or ultraviolet, and the theoretical luminous efficacy (LER) is 95 lumens per watt."[67] No known material can be used as a filament at this ideal temperature, which is hotter than the sun's surface. An upper limit for incandescent lamp luminous efficacy (LER) is around 52 lumens per watt, the theoretical value emitted by tungsten at its melting point.[62]

text: Although inefficient, incandescent light bulbs have an advantage in applications where accurate color reproduction is important, since the continuous blackbody spectrum emitted from an incandescent light-bulb filament yields near-perfect color rendition, with a color rendering index of 100 (the best possible).[69] White-balancing is still required to avoid too "warm" or "cool" colors, but this is a simple process that requires only the color temperature in kelvins as input for modern, digital visual reproduction equipment such as video or still cameras unless it is completely automated. The color-rendering performance of incandescent lights cannot be matched by LEDs or fluorescent lights, although they can offer satisfactory performance for non-critical applications such as home lighting.[70][71] White-balancing such lights is therefore more complicated, requiring additional adjustments to reduce for example green-magenta color casts, and even when properly white-balanced, the color reproduction will not be perfect.

text: For a given quantity of light, an incandescent light bulb produces more heat (and thus consumes more power) than a fluorescent lamp. In buildings where air conditioning is used, incandescent lamps' heat output increases load on the air conditioning system.[72] While heat from lights will reduce the need for running a building's heating system, in general a heating system can provide the same amount of heat at a lower cost than incandescent lights.

text: Halogen incandescent lamps have higher efficacy, which will allow a halogen light to use less power to produce the same amount of light compared to a non-halogen incandescent light. The expected life span of halogen lights is also generally longer compared to non-halogen incandescent lights, and halogen lights produce a more constant light-output over time, without much dimming.[73]

text: There are many non-incandescent light sources, such as the fluorescent lamp, high-intensity discharge lamps and LED lamps, which have higher luminous efficiency, and some have been designed to be retrofitted in fixtures for incandescent lights. These devices produce light by luminescence. These lamps produce discrete spectral lines and do not have the broad "tail" of invisible infrared emissions. By careful selection of which electron energy level transitions are used, and fluorescent coatings which modify the spectral distribution, the spectrum emitted can be tuned to mimic the appearance of incandescent sources, or other different color temperatures of white light. Due to the discrete spectral lines rather than a continuous spectrum, the light is not ideal for applications such as photography and cinematography.[70][71]

text: Cost of lighting

text: The initial cost of an incandescent bulb is small compared to the cost of the energy it uses over its lifetime. Incandescent bulbs have a shorter life than most other lighting, an important factor if replacement is inconvenient or expensive. Some types of lamp, including incandescent and fluorescent, emit less light as they age; this may be an inconvenience, or may reduce effective lifetime due to lamp replacement before total failure. A comparison of incandescent lamp operating cost with other light sources must include illumination requirements, cost of the lamp and labor cost to replace lamps (taking into account effective lamp lifetime), cost of electricity used, effect of lamp operation on heating and air conditioning systems. When used for lighting in houses and commercial buildings, the energy lost to heat can significantly increase the energy required by a building's air conditioning system. During the heating season heat produced by the bulbs is not wasted,[74] although in most cases it is more cost effective to obtain heat from the heating system. Regardless, over the course of a year a more efficient lighting system saves energy in nearly all climates.[75]

text: Measures to ban use

text: Since incandescent light bulbs use more energy than alternatives such as CFLs and LED lamps, many governments have introduced measures to ban their use, by setting minimum efficacy standards higher than can be achieved by incandescent lamps. Measures to ban light bulbs have been implemented in the European Union, the United States, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Australia, among others. In the Europe the EC has calculated that the ban contributes 5 to 10 billion euros to the economy and saves 40 TWh of electricity every year, translating in CO2 emission reductions of 15 million tonnes.[76]

text: In the US, federal law has scheduled the most common incandescent light bulbs to be phased out by 2014, to be replaced with more energy-efficient light bulbs.[77] Traditional incandescent light bulbs were phased out in Australia in November 2009.[78]

text: Objections to banning the use of incandescent light bulbs include the higher initial cost of alternatives and lower quality of light of fluorescent lamps.[79] Some people have concerns about the health effects of fluorescent lamps. However, even though they contain mercury, the environmental performance of CFLs is much better than that of light bulbs, mostly because they consume much less energy and therefore strongly reduce the environmental impact of power production.[80] LED lamps are even more efficient, and are free of mercury. They are regarded as the best solution in terms of cost effectiveness and robustness.[81]

text: Efforts to improve efficiency

text: Some research has been carried out to improve the efficacy of commercial incandescent lamps. In 2007, the consumer lighting division of General Electric announced a "high efficiency incandescent" (HEI) lamp project, which they claimed would ultimately be as much as four times more efficient than current incandescents, although their initial production goal was to be approximately twice as efficient.[82][83] The HEI program was terminated in 2008 due to slow progress.[84][85]

text: US Department of Energy research at Sandia National Laboratories initially indicated the potential for dramatically improved efficiency from a photonic lattice filament.[82] However, later work indicated that initially promising results were in error.[86]

text: Prompted by legislation in various countries mandating increased bulb efficiency, new "hybrid" incandescent bulbs have been introduced by Philips. The "Halogena Energy Saver" incandescents can produce about 23 lm/W; about 30 percent more efficient than traditional incandescents, by using a reflective capsule to reflect formerly wasted infrared radiation back to the filament from which it can be re-emitted as visible light.[87] This concept was pioneered by Duro-Test in 1980 with a commercial product that produced 29.8 lm/W.[88][89] More advanced reflectors based on interference filters or photonic crystals can theoretically result in higher efficiency, up to a limit of about 270 lm/W (40% of the maximum efficacy possible).[90] Laboratory proof-of-concept experiments have produced as much as 45 lm/W, approaching the efficacy of compact fluorescent bulbs.[90][91]

text: Construction

text: Incandescent light bulbs consist of an air-tight glass enclosure (the envelope, or bulb) with a filament of tungsten wire inside the bulb, through which an electric current is passed. Contact wires and a base with two (or more) conductors provide electrical connections to the filament. Incandescent light bulbs usually contain a stem or glass mount anchored to the bulb's base that allows the electrical contacts to run through the envelope without air or gas leaks. Small wires embedded in the stem in turn support the filament and its lead wires.

text: An electric current heats the filament to typically 2,000 to 3,300 K (3,140 to 5,480 °F), well below tungsten's melting point of 3,695 K (6,191 °F). Filament temperatures depend on the filament type, shape, size, and amount of current drawn. The heated filament emits light that approximates a continuous spectrum. The useful part of the emitted energy is visible light, but most energy is given off as heat in the near-infrared wavelengths.

text: Three-way light bulbs have two filaments and three conducting contacts in their bases. The filaments share a common ground, and can be lit separately or together. Common wattages include 30–70–100, 50–100–150, and 100–200–300, with the first two numbers referring to the individual filaments, and the third giving the combined wattage.

text: Most light bulbs have either clear or coated glass. The coated glass bulbs have a white powdery substance on the inside called kaolin. Kaolin, or kaolinite, is a white, chalky clay in a very fine powder form, that is blown in and electrostatically deposited on the interior of the bulb. It diffuses the light emitted from the filament, producing a more gentle and evenly distributed light. Manufacturers may add pigments to the kaolin to adjust the characteristics of the final light emitted from the bulb. Kaolin diffused bulbs are used extensively in interior lighting because of their comparatively gentle light. Other kinds of colored bulbs are also made, including the various colors used for "party bulbs", Christmas tree lights and other decorative lighting. These are created by coloring the glass with a dopant; which is often a metal like cobalt (blue) or chromium (green).[92] Neodymium-containing glass is sometimes used to provide a more natural-appearing light.

text:
Outline of Glass bulb
Low pressure inert gas (argon, nitrogen, krypton, xenon)
Tungsten filament
Contact wire (goes out of stem)
Contact wire (goes into stem)
Support wires (one end embedded in stem; conduct no current)
Stem (glass mount)
Contact wire (goes out of stem)
Cap (sleeve)
Insulation (vitrite)
Electrical contact

text: Many arrangements of electrical contacts are used. Large lamps may have a screw base (one or more contacts at the tip, one at the shell) or a bayonet base (one or more contacts on the base, shell used as a contact or used only as a mechanical support). Some tubular lamps have an electrical contact at either end. Miniature lamps may have a wedge base and wire contacts, and some automotive and special purpose lamps have screw terminals for connection to wires. Contacts in the lamp socket allow the electric current to pass through the base to the filament. Power ratings for incandescent light bulbs range from about 0.1 watt to about 10,000 watts.

text: The glass bulb of a general service lamp can reach temperatures between 200 and 260 °C (392 and 500 °F). Lamps intended for high power operation or used for heating purposes will have envelopes made of hard glass or fused quartz.[62]

text: Gas fill

text: The bulb is filled with an inert gas, to reduce evaporation of the filament and prevent its oxidation at a pressure of about 70 kPa (0.7 atm).[93]

text: The role of the gas is to prevent evaporation of the filament, without introducing significant heat losses. For these properties, chemical inertness and high atomic or molecular weight is desirable. The presence of gas molecules knocks the liberated tungsten atoms back to the filament, reducing its evaporation and allowing it to be operated at higher temperature without reducing its life (or, for operating at the same temperature, prolongs the filament life). It however introduces heat losses (and therefore efficiency loss) from the filament, by heat conduction and heat convection.

text: Early lamps, and some small modern lamps used only a vacuum to protect the filament from oxygen. This however increases evaporation of the filament, albeit it eliminates the heat losses.

text: The most common fills are:[94]

text:
Vacuum, used in small lamps. Provides best thermal insulation of the filament but does not protect against its evaporation. Used also in larger lamps where the outer bulb surface temperature has to be limited.
Argon (93%) and nitrogen (7%), where argon is used for its inertness, low thermal conductivity and low cost, and the nitrogen is added to increase the breakdown voltage and prevent arcing between parts of the filament[93]
Nitrogen, used in some higher-power lamps, e.g. projection lamps, and where higher breakdown voltage is needed due to proximity of filament parts or lead-in wires
Krypton, which is more advantageous than argon due to its higher atomic weight and lower thermal conductivity (which also allows use of smaller bulbs), but its use is hindered by much higher cost, confining it mostly to smaller-size bulbs.
Krypton mixed with xenon, where xenon improves the gas properties further due to its higher atomic weight. Its use is however limited by its very high cost. The improvements by using xenon are modest in comparison to its cost.
Hydrogen, in special flashing lamps where rapid filament cooling is required; its high thermal conductivity is exploited here.

tag: ul

text: The gas fill must be free of traces of water. In the presence of the hot filament, water reacts with tungsten forming tungsten trioxide and atomic hydrogen. The oxide deposits on the bulb inner surface and reacts with hydrogen, decomposing to metallic tungsten and water. Water then cycles back to the filament. This greatly accelerates the bulb blackening, in comparison with evaporation-only.

text: The gas layer close to the filament (called the Langmuir layer) is stagnant, heat transfer occurs only by conduction. Only at some distance does convection occur to carry heat to the bulb envelope.

text: The orientation of the filament influences efficiency. Gas flow parallel to the filament, e.g. a vertically oriented bulb with vertical (or axial) filament, reduces convective losses.

text: The efficiency of the lamp increases with a larger filament diameter. Thin-filament, low-power bulbs benefit less from a fill gas, so are often only evacuated. In special cases, when rapid cooling of a filament is needed (e.g. in flashing lights), hydrogen gas fill is used.

text: Early lightbulbs with carbon filaments also used carbon monoxide, nitrogen, or mercury vapor. Carbon filaments however operate at lower temperatures than tungsten ones, so the effect of the fill gas was not significant as the heat losses offset any benefits.

text: Manufacturing

text: Early lamps were laboriously assembled by hand. After automatic machinery was developed the cost of lamps fell.

text: In manufacturing the glass bulb, a type of "ribbon machine" is used. A continuous ribbon of glass is passed along a conveyor belt, heated in a furnace, and then blown by precisely aligned air nozzles through holes in the conveyor belt into molds. Thus the glass bulbs are created. After the bulbs are blown, and cooled, they are cut off the ribbon machine; a typical machine of this sort produces 50,000 bulbs per hour.[95] The filament and its supports are assembled on a glass stem, which is fused to the bulb. The air is pumped out of the bulb, and the evacuation tube in the stem press is sealed by a flame. The bulb is then inserted into the lamp base, and the whole assembly tested.

text: Filament

text: The first successful light bulb filaments were made of carbon (from carbonized paper or bamboo). Early carbon filaments had a negative temperature coefficient of resistance — as they got hotter, their electrical resistance decreased. This made the lamp sensitive to fluctuations in the power supply, since a small increase of voltage would cause the filament to heat up, reducing its resistance and causing it to draw even more power and heat even further. In the "flashing" process, carbon filaments were heated by current passing through them while in an evacuated vessel containing hydrocarbon vapor (usually gasoline). The carbon deposited on the filament by this treatment improved the uniformity and strength of filaments as well as their efficiency. A metallized or "graphitized" filament was first heated in a high-temperature oven before flashing and lamp assembly. This transformed the carbon into graphite which further strengthened and smoothed the filament. This also changed the filament to have a positive temperature coefficient, like a metallic conductor, and helped stabilize the lamp's power consumption, temperature and light output against minor variations in supply voltage.

text: In 1902, the Siemens company developed a tantalum lamp filament. These lamps were more efficient than even graphitized carbon filaments and could operate at higher temperatures. Since tantalum metal has a lower resistivity than carbon, the tantalum lamp filament was quite long and required multiple internal supports. The metal filament had the property of gradually shortening in use; the filaments were installed with large loops that tightened in use. This made lamps in use for several hundred hours quite fragile.[96] Metal filaments had the property of breaking and re-welding, though this would usually decrease resistance and shorten the life of the filament. General Electric bought the rights to use tantalum filaments and produced them in the US until 1913.[97]

text: From 1898 to around 1905, osmium was also used as a lamp filament in Europe, and the metal was so expensive that used broken lamps could be returned for partial credit.[98] It could not be made for 110 V or 220 V so several lamps were wired in series for use on standard voltage circuits.

text: In 1906, the tungsten filament was introduced. Tungsten metal was initially not available in a form that allowed it to be drawn into fine wires. Filaments made from sintered tungsten powder were quite fragile. By 1910, a process was developed by William D. Coolidge at General Electric for production of a ductile form of tungsten. The process required pressing tungsten powder into bars, then several steps of sintering, swaging, and then wire drawing. It was found that very pure tungsten formed filaments that sagged in use, and that a very small "doping" treatment with potassium, silicon, and aluminium oxides at the level of a few hundred parts per million greatly improved the life and durability of the tungsten filaments.[99]

text: Coiled coil filament

text: To improve the efficiency of the lamp, the filament usually consists of multiple coils of coiled fine wire, also known as a 'coiled coil'. Light bulbs using coiled coil filaments are sometimes referred to as 'double-coil bulbs'. For a 60-watt 120-volt lamp, the uncoiled length of the tungsten filament is usually 22.8 inches (580 mm),[62] and the filament diameter is 0.0018 inches (0.046 mm). The advantage of the coiled coil is that evaporation of the tungsten filament is at the rate of a tungsten cylinder having a diameter equal to that of the coiled coil. The coiled-coil filament evaporates more slowly than a straight filament of the same surface area and light-emitting power. As a result, the filament can then run hotter, which results in a more efficient light source, while reducing the evaporation so that the filament will last longer than a straight filament at the same temperature.

text: There are several different shapes of filament used in lamps, with differing characteristics. Manufacturers designate the types with codes such as C-6, CC-6, C-2V, CC-2V, C-8, CC-88, C-2F, CC-2F, C-Bar, C-Bar-6, C-8I, C-2R, CC-2R, and Axial.

text: Electrical filaments are also used in hot cathodes of fluorescent lamps and vacuum tubes as a source of electrons or in vacuum tubes to heat an electron-emitting electrode.

text: Reducing filament evaporation

text: One of the problems of the standard electric light bulb is filament notching due to evaporation of the filament. Small variations in resistivity along the filament cause "hot spots" to form at points of higher resistivity;[63] a variation of diameter of only 1% will cause a 25% reduction in service life.[62] These hot spots evaporate faster than the rest of the filament, which increases the resistance at that point—this creates a positive feedback that ends in the familiar tiny gap in an otherwise healthy-looking filament. Irving Langmuir found that an inert gas, instead of vacuum, would retard evaporation. General service incandescent light bulbs over about 25 watts in rating are now filled with a mixture of mostly argon and some nitrogen,[100] or sometimes krypton.[101] Lamps operated on direct current develop random stairstep irregularities on the filament surface which may cut lifespan in half compared to AC operation; different alloys of tungsten and rhenium can be used to counteract the effect.[102][103]

text: Since a filament breaking in a gas-filled bulb can form an electric arc, which may spread between the terminals and draw very heavy current, intentionally thin lead-in wires or more elaborate protection devices are therefore often used as fuses built into the light bulb.[104] More nitrogen is used in higher-voltage lamps to reduce the possibility of arcing.

text: While inert gas reduces filament evaporation, it also conducts heat from the filament, thereby cooling the filament and reducing efficiency. At constant pressure and temperature, the thermal conductivity of a gas depends upon the molecular weight of the gas and the cross sectional area of the gas molecules. Higher molecular weight gasses have lower thermal conductivity, because both the molecular weight is higher and also the cross sectional area is higher. Xenon gas improves efficiency because of its high molecular weight, but is also more expensive, so its use is limited to smaller lamps.[105]

text: During ordinary operation, the tungsten of the filament evaporates; hotter, more-efficient filaments evaporate faster. Because of this, the lifetime of a filament lamp is a trade-off between efficiency and longevity. The trade-off is typically set to provide a lifetime of several hundred to 2,000 hours for lamps used for general illumination. Theatrical, photographic, and projection lamps may have a useful life of only a few hours, trading life expectancy for high output in a compact form. Long-life general service lamps have lower efficiency but are used where the cost of changing the lamp is high compared to the value of energy used.

text: If a light bulb envelope leaks, the hot tungsten filament reacts with air, yielding an aerosol of brown tungsten nitride, brown tungsten dioxide, violet-blue tungsten pentoxide, and yellow tungsten trioxide that then deposits on the nearby surfaces or the bulb interior.

text: Bulb blackening

text: In a conventional lamp, the evaporated tungsten eventually condenses on the inner surface of the glass envelope, darkening it. For bulbs that contain a vacuum, the darkening is uniform across the entire surface of the envelope. When a filling of inert gas is used, the evaporated tungsten is carried in the thermal convection currents of the gas, depositing preferentially on the uppermost part of the envelope and blackening just that portion of the envelope. An incandescent lamp that gives 93% or less of its initial light output at 75% of its rated life is regarded as unsatisfactory, when tested according to IEC Publication 60064. Light loss is due to filament evaporation and bulb blackening.[106] Study of the problem of bulb blackening led to the discovery of the Edison effect, thermionic emission and invention of the vacuum tube.

text: A very small amount of water vapor inside a light bulb can significantly affect lamp darkening. Water vapor dissociates into hydrogen and oxygen at the hot filament. The oxygen attacks the tungsten metal, and the resulting tungsten oxide particles travel to cooler parts of the lamp. Hydrogen from water vapor reduces the oxide, reforming water vapor and continuing this water cycle.[63] The equivalent of a drop of water distributed over 500,000 lamps will significantly increase darkening.[62] Small amounts of substances such as zirconium are placed within the lamp as a getter to react with any oxygen that may bake out of the lamp components during operation.

text: Some old, high-powered lamps used in theater, projection, searchlight, and lighthouse service with heavy, sturdy filaments contained loose tungsten powder within the envelope. From time to time, the operator would remove the bulb and shake it, allowing the tungsten powder to scrub off most of the tungsten that had condensed on the interior of the envelope, removing the blackening and brightening the lamp again.[107]

text: Halogen lamps

text: The halogen lamp reduces uneven evaporation of the filament and eliminates darkening of the envelope by filling the lamp with a halogen gas at low pressure, rather than an inert gas. The halogen cycle increases the lifetime of the bulb and prevents its darkening by redepositing tungsten from the inside of the bulb back onto the filament. The halogen lamp can operate its filament at a higher temperature than a standard gas filled lamp of similar power without loss of operating life. Such bulbs are much smaller than normal incandescent bulbs, and are widely used where intense illumination is needed in a limited space. Fiber-optic lamps for optical microscopy is one typical application.

text: Incandescent arc lamps

text: A variation of the incandescent lamp did not use a hot wire filament, but instead used an arc struck on a spherical bead electrode to produce heat. The electrode then became incandescent, with the arc contributing little to the light produced. Such lamps were used for projection or illumination for scientific instruments such as microscopes. These arc lamps ran on relatively low voltages and incorporated tungsten filaments to start ionization within the envelope. They provided the intense concentrated light of an arc lamp but were easier to operate. Developed around 1915, these lamps were displaced by mercury and xenon arc lamps.[108][109][110]

text: Electrical characteristics

text:
Comparison of efficacy by power

120 volt lamps[111]
230 volt lamps[112]

Power (W)
Output (lm)
Efficacy (lm/W)
Output (lm)
Efficacy (lm/W)

5
25
5

15
110
7.3

25
200
8.0
230
9.2

40
500
12.5
430
10.8

60
850
14.2
730
12.2

75
1,200
16.0

100
1,700
17.0
1,380
13.8

150
2,850
19.0
2,220
14.8

200
3,900
19.5
3,150
15.8

300
6,200
20.7
5,000
16.7

500

8,400
16.8

text: Power

text: Incandescent lamps are nearly pure resistive loads with a power factor of 1. This means the actual power consumed (in watts) and the apparent power (in volt-amperes) are equal. Incandescent light bulbs are usually marketed according to the electrical power consumed. This is measured in watts and depends mainly on the resistance of the filament, which in turn depends mainly on the filament's length, thickness, and material. For two bulbs of the same voltage, type, color, and clarity, the higher-powered bulb gives more light.

text: The table shows the approximate typical output, in lumens, of standard incandescent light bulbs at various powers. Light output of a 230 V version is usually slightly less than that of a 120 V version. The lower current (higher voltage) filament is thinner and has to be operated at a slightly lower temperature for same life expectancy, and that reduces energy efficiency.[113] The lumen values for "soft white" bulbs will generally be slightly lower than for clear bulbs at the same power.

text: Current and resistance

text: The actual resistance of the filament is temperature dependent. The cold resistance of tungsten-filament lamps is about 1/15 the hot-filament resistance when the lamp is operating. For example, a 100-watt, 120-volt lamp has a resistance of 144 ohms when lit, but the cold resistance is much lower (about 9.5 ohms).[62][114] Since incandescent lamps are resistive loads, simple phase-control TRIAC dimmers can be used to control brightness. Electrical contacts may carry a "T" rating symbol indicating that they are designed to control circuits with the high inrush current characteristic of tungsten lamps. For a 100-watt, 120-volt general-service lamp, the current stabilizes in about 0.10 seconds, and the lamp reaches 90% of its full brightness after about 0.13 seconds.[115]

text: Carbon filament bulbs have the opposite characteristic. The resistance of a carbon filament is higher when it is cold than when it is operating. In the case of a 240 Volt, 60 Watt carbon filament bulb, the resistance of the filament when at operating temperature is 960 Ohms, but rises to around 1500 Ohms when cold.[citation needed]

text: Physical characteristics

text: Bulb shapes

text: Incandescent light bulbs come in a range of shapes and sizes. The names of the shapes vary somewhat from region to regions. Many of these shapes have a designation consisting of one or more letters followed by one or more numbers, e.g. A55 or PAR38. The letters represent the shape of the bulb. The numbers represent the maximum diameter, either in  1⁄8 of an inch, or in millimeters, depending on the shape and the region. For example, 63 mm reflectors are designated R63, but in the US, they are known as R20 (2.5 in).[116] However, in both regions, a PAR38 reflector is known as PAR38[citation needed]. ANSI C79.1-2002, IS 14897:2000[117] and JIS C 7710:1988[118] cover a common terminology for bulb shapes.

text: Examples

text:
description
metric
imperial
details

"standard" lightbulb
A60 E26
A19 E26
⌀60 mm (~⌀2.375") A series bulb, ⌀26 mm Edison screw[a]

candle-flame bulb
CA35 E12
CA11 E12
⌀25 mm (~⌀1.375") candle-flame shape, ⌀12 mm Edison screw[a]

flood light
BR95 E26
BR30 E26
⌀95 mm (~⌀3.75") flood light, ⌀26 mm Edison screw[a]

halogen track-light bulb
MR50 GU5.3
MR16 GU5.3
⌀50 mm (~⌀2") multifaceted reflector, 5.33 mm-spaced 12 V bi-pin connector

text: Common shapes:

text: Lamp bases

text: Very small lamps may have the filament support wires extended through the base of the lamp, and can be directly soldered to a printed circuit board for connections. Some reflector-type lamps include screw terminals for connection of wires. Most lamps have metal bases that fit in a socket to support the lamp and conduct current to the filament wires. In the late 19th century, manufacturers introduced a multitude of incompatible lamp bases. General Electric introduced standard base sizes for tungsten incandescent lamps under the Mazda trademark in 1909. This standard was soon adopted across the US, and the Mazda name was used by many manufacturers under license through 1945. Today most incandescent lamps for general lighting service use an Edison screw in candelabra, intermediate, or standard or mogul sizes, or double contact bayonet base. Technical standards for lamp bases include ANSI standard C81.67 and IEC standard 60061-1 for common commercial lamp sizes, to ensure interchangeablitity between different manufacturer's products. Bayonet base lamps are frequently used in automotive lamps to resist loosening due to vibration. A bipin base is often used for halogen or reflector lamps.[121]

text: Lamp bases may be secured to the bulb with a cement, or by mechanical crimping to indentations molded into the glass bulb.

text: Miniature lamps used for some automotive lamps or decorative lamps have wedge bases that have a partial plastic or even completely glass base. In this case, the wires wrap around to the outside of the bulb, where they press against the contacts in the socket. Miniature Christmas bulbs use a plastic wedge base as well.

text: Lamps intended for use in optical systems such as film projectors, microscope illuminators, or stage lighting instruments have bases with alignment features so that the filament is positioned accurately within the optical system. A screw-base lamp may have a random orientation of the filament when the lamp is installed in the socket.

text: Light output and lifetime

text: Incandescent lamps are very sensitive to changes in the supply voltage. These characteristics are of great practical and economic importance.

text: For a supply voltage V near the rated voltage of the lamp:

text:
Light output is approximately proportional to V 3.4
Power consumption is approximately proportional to V 1.6
Lifetime is approximately proportional to V −16
Color temperature is approximately proportional to V 0.42[122]

text: This means that a 5% reduction in operating voltage will more than double the life of the bulb, at the expense of reducing its light output by about 16%. This may be a very acceptable trade off for a light bulb that is in a difficult-to-access location (for example, traffic lights or fixtures hung from high ceilings). Long-life bulbs take advantage of this trade-off. Since the value of the electric power they consume is much more than the value of the lamp, general service lamps emphasize efficiency over long operating life. The objective is to minimize the cost of light, not the cost of lamps.[62] Early bulbs had a life of up to 2500 hours, but in 1924 a cartel agreed to limit life to 1000 hours.[123] When this was exposed in 1953, General Electric and other leading American manufacturers were banned from limiting the life.[124]

text: The relationships above are valid for only a few percent change of voltage around rated conditions, but they do indicate that a lamp operated at much lower than rated voltage could last for hundreds of times longer than at rated conditions, albeit with greatly reduced light output. The "Centennial Light" is a light bulb that is accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records as having been burning almost continuously at a fire station in Livermore, California, since 1901. However, the bulb emits the equivalent light of a four watt bulb. A similar story can be told of a 40-watt bulb in Texas that has been illuminated since 21 September 1908. It once resided in an opera house where notable celebrities stopped to take in its glow, and was moved to an area museum in 1977.[125]

text: In flood lamps used for photographic lighting, the tradeoff is made in the other direction. Compared to general-service bulbs, for the same power, these bulbs produce far more light, and (more importantly) light at a higher color temperature, at the expense of greatly reduced life (which may be as short as two hours for a type P1 lamp). The upper temperature limit for the filament is the melting point of the metal. Tungsten is the metal with the highest melting point, 3,695 K (6,191 °F). A 50-hour-life projection bulb, for instance, is designed to operate only 50 °C (122 °F) below that melting point. Such a lamp may achieve up to 22 lumens per watt, compared with 17.5 for a 750-hour general service lamp.[62]

text: Lamps designed for different voltages have different luminous efficacy. For example, a 100-watt, 120-volt lamp will produce about 17.1 lumens per watt. A lamp with the same rated lifetime but designed for 230 V would produce only around 12.8 lumens per watt, and a similar lamp designed for 30 volts (train lighting) would produce as much as 19.8 lumens per watt.[62] Lower voltage lamps have a thicker filament, for the same power rating. They can run hotter for the same lifetime before the filament evaporates.

text: The wires used to support the filament make it mechanically stronger, but remove heat, creating another tradeoff between efficiency and long life. Many general-service 120-volt lamps use no additional support wires, but lamps designed for "rough service" or "vibration service" may have as many as five. Low-voltage lamps have filaments made of heavier wire and do not require additional support wires.

text: Very low voltages are inefficient since the lead wires would conduct too much heat away from the filament, so the practical lower limit for incandescent lamps is 1.5 volts. Very long filaments for high voltages are fragile, and lamp bases become more difficult to insulate, so lamps for illumination are not made with rated voltages over 300 volts.[62] Some infrared heating elements are made for higher voltages, but these use tubular bulbs with widely separated terminals.

text:
The Centennial Light is the longest-lasting light bulb in the world.

Various lighting spectra as viewed in a diffraction grating. Upper left: fluorescent lamp, upper right: incandescent bulb, lower left: white LED, lower right: candle flame.


document_title: Default route

question_text: when do routers forward packets out through the default route

text: Default route

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: In computer networking, the default route is a setting on a computer that defines the packet forwarding rule to use when no specific route can be determined for a given Internet Protocol (IP) destination address. All packets for destinations not established in the routing table are sent via the default route.

text: The default route generally points to another router, which treats the packet the same way: if a route matches, the packet is forwarded accordingly, otherwise the packet is forwarded to the default route of that router. The route evaluation process in each router uses the longest prefix match method to obtain the most specific route. The network with the longest subnet mask that matches the destination IP address is the next-hop network gateway. The process repeats until a packet is delivered to the destination. Each router traversal counts as one hop in the distance calculation for the transmission path.

text: The device to which the default route points is often called the default gateway, and it often carries out other functions such as packet filtering, firewalling, or proxy server operations.

text: The default route in Internet Protocol Version 4  (IPv4) is designated as the zero-address 0.0.0.0/0 in CIDR notation,[1] often called the quad-zero route.[citation needed] The subnet mask is given as /0, which effectively specifies all networks, and is the shortest match possible. A route lookup that does not match any other route, falls back to this route. Similarly, in IPv6, the default route is specified by ::/0.

text: In the highest-level segment of a network, administrators generally point the default route for a given host towards the router that has a connection to a network service provider. Therefore, packets with destinations outside the organization's local area network, typically destinations on the Internet or a wide area network, are forwarded to the router with the connection to that provider.