A-Z of Lighting: Part 5

The final installment of this mini-series!  We hope you enjoyed reading this A to Z and because it's the last post, you get 6 letters instead of 5.

U is for

Uplights -

As the name says, uplights are lights which throw the illumination upwards rather than down, which is very popular with low-ceiling rooms as it prevents shadows forming and making the room look smaller.

Many uplights are sconces but they don't necessairly have to be

V is for

Voltage -

This is the potential difference across an electrical component, which in lighting is the bulb. Voltage is essentially the thing that pressurises the current to flow due to positive and negative charge. The greater the voltage, the greater current running through it.

Symbol for Danger: High Voltage

W is for

Watt -

A Watt is an international standard unit of power which can be applied to most things.  In lighting, the more Watts a bulb uses, the more electricity it uses, and so the more it costs to run.

The Watt was names after James Watt, a key inventor in the Industrial Revolution.

X is for

Xenon -

A xenon arc lamp is a specialised type of gas-discharge lamp which produces light by passing the electric current through ionized xenon gas.  The light is a bright white light which is like sunlight and is used in movie projectors, searchlights, and for some research purposes.

Xenon lights are often used in headlights, such as in this Mercedes Benz S Class

Y is for

Yablochkov Candle -

This was a type of arc lamp designed by Pavel Yablochkov in 1875, and was used in the first electric street lights, which appeared in Paris in 1878 at the third Paris World Fair.  This is sometimes also called a Jablochkoff candle.

An early illustration of the street light and bulb

Z is for

Zirconium -

This element was one of the first used in incandescent flashbulbs, and are what caused them to have such a bright flash.  As the melting and boiling point are low, the lamp would vapourise the metal and then would have to be replaced.

Zirconium Flashbulbs