The key difference between incandescent and fluorescent light spectrums is that the lamps produce incandescent light spectrum less efficiently from electric energy, whereas lamps produce fluorescent light spectrum much more efficiently from electric energy.

Full-spectrum lighting typically comes in two large lighting types known as incandescent and fluorescent light.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Incandescent Light Spectrum
3. What is Fluorescent Light Spectrum
4. Incandescent vs Fluorescent Light Spectrums in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Incandescent vs Fluorescent Light Spectrums

What is Incandescent Light Spectrum?

The incandescent light spectrum is the light that is emitted from an incandescent light bulb. An incandescent light bulb is also known as an incandescent lamp or an incandescent globe. It is an electric light consisting of a wire filament that is heated until it glows. This filament is enclosed in a glass bulb that has a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxidation. Thereafter, the current is supplied to the filament by terminals or wires embedded in the glass. This apparatus requires a bulb socket that provides mechanical support and electrical connections.

Figure 01: An Incandescent Light Bulb

Typically, an incandescent light bulb produces a continuous light spectrum. This is because the source of the light is a metal filament like a wire. Incandescent light bulbs are commonly known as traditional light bulbs, and these bulbs are the most common form of bulbs in the home. The incandescent light is a warm, whitish light, and it has a clear or opaque glass shell.

What is Fluorescent Light Spectrum?

A fluorescent light spectrum is a continuous spectrum consisting of bright lines. These bright lines come from mercury gas that is inside the tube of the light bulb. The continuous spectrum comes out because of the phosphor coating lining the interior of the tube.

Figure 02: A Fluorescent Light Bulb

The light source that emits a fluorescent light spectrum is called a fluorescent lamp or a fluorescent tube. It is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that can use fluorescence to produce visible light. In a fluorescent lamp, an electric current in the gas tends to excite mercury vapor that can produce short-wave ultraviolet light, which can then result in the phosphor coating inside the lamp glowing.

A fluorescent lamp can convert electrical energy into useful light much more efficiently compared to an incandescent lamp. Typically, the luminous efficacy of a fluorescent light system is about 50-100 lumens per watt. This value is much higher than the value of incandescent light systems.

What is the Difference Between Incandescent and Fluorescent Light Spectrums?

Full-spectrum lighting typically comes in two large lighting types as incandescent and fluorescent light. The key difference between incandescent and fluorescent light spectrums is that the lamps produce the incandescent light spectrum less efficiently from electric energy, whereas lamps produce the fluorescent light spectrum much more efficiently from electric energy.

Moreover, the luminous efficacy of the fluorescent light spectrum is very high compared to the luminous efficacy of incandescent light bulbs. The values are 16 lumens per watt for incandescent light bulbs and 50-100 lumens per watts for fluorescent light bulbs. Furthermore, the spectrum of light emitted from an incandescent light bulb is continuous, but there are no bright lines. However, the fluorescent light spectrum is a continuous spectrum with some bright lines.

The below infographic presents the differences between incandescent and fluorescent light spectrums in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Incandescent vs Fluorescent Light Spectrums

Incandescent and fluorescent light spectra are comparable with each other in different aspects. The key difference between incandescent and fluorescent light spectrums is that lamps produce the incandescent light spectrum less efficiently from electric energy, whereas lamps produce fluorescent light spectrum much more efficiently from electric energy.

Reference:

1. “Full Spectrum | Light Bulb Types.” Bulbs.Com

Image Courtesy:

1. “Light-light-bulb-incandescent-lamp” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “Shining fluorescent lamp” By Dmitry G – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia

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