In the nineteenth century, study and initial research on the science of electricity paved the way for a number of inventors to develop a realistic and inexpensive electrical home lighting device. Sir Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison were able to invent the initial light bulb. In the following years, people all over the world accepted the invention of light bulbs and started using them as the prime source of lighting.

Lighting has been made available to mankind for centuries. However, before the invention of the light bulb, lighting was a messy and difficult job since it involved the use of fire, wax, fat and oil. This practice was risky and perilous on a number of occasions and almost always left soot on everything around the lighting source. These shortcomings in traditional lighting sources created the need of electrical light bulbs.

The modern light bulb is a very simple device. Even with modernity and ongoing development, the light bulb has not been altered much from its initial design. At the base of a light bulb, there are two metal contacts that connect to the ends of an electrical circuit. These contacts are attached to two stiff wires that are connected to a thin metal filament.

The filament in a light bulb is made of a long and microscopic length of tungsten metal. Tungsten is used in most incandescent light bulbs as it is considered to be an ideal filament material. A thinner conductor is known to heat more easily than a thicker conductor. They are more resistant to the movement of electrons, which are known to emit light in most sources.

All the parts used to make a light bulb are housed in a glass bulb. This is filled with an inert gas, usually argon. When the bulb is connected to a power supply, electric current flows from one contact to the other, through the wires and the filament. This electric current heats the atoms within the light bulb. This entire process allows us to experience lighting. Light bulbs only work for a certain period of time, and need to be replaced once they stop functioning most people say the bulb has blown out and simply purchase a new one to replace it.