Gem Lamp, 1905.
This incandescent lamp had a graphitized carbon filament obtained by the heat of an electric furnace, so that it could be operated at 25 per cent higher efficiency than the regular carbon lamp. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution.
This lamp was put on the market in 1905 and was called the Gem or metallized carbon filament lamp as such a carbon filament had a resistance characteristic similar to metals. At first it had two single hair pin filaments in series which in 1909 were changed to a single loop filament like the carbon lamp.
In 1905 the rating of incandescent lamps was changed from a candlepower to a wattage basis. The ordinary 16-candlepower carbon lamp consumed 50 watts and was so rated. The 50-watt Gem lamp gave 20 candlepower, both candlepower ratings being their mean candlepower in a horizontal direction. The Gem lamp was made for 110-volt circuits in sizes from 40 to 250 watts. The 50-watt size was the most popular, many millions of which were made before the lamp disappeared from use in 1918. The lamp was not quite as strong as the carbon lamp. Some Gem lamps for series circuits were also made, but these were soon superseded by the tungsten-filament lamp which appeared in 1907.
THE TANTALUM LAMP
Tantalum Lamp, 1906.
The tantalum filament could be operated at 50 per cent greater efficiency than that of the regular carbon incandescent lamp. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution.
Dr. Werner von Bolton, a German physicist, made an investigation of various materials to see if any of them were more suitable than carbon for an incandescent-lamp filament. After experimenting with various metals, tantalum was tried. Tantalum had been known to science for about a hundred years. Von Bolton finally obtained some of the pure metal and found it to be ductile so that it could be drawn out into a wire. As it had a low specific resistance, the wire filament had to be much longer and thinner than the carbon filament. A great number of experimental lamps were made so that it was not until 1906 that the lamp was put on the market in this country. It had an initial efficiency of 5 lumens per watt and a good maintenance of candle power throughout its life, having an average efficiency of about 4¼ l-p-w. The usual sizes of lamps were 40 and 80 watts giving about 20 and 40 candlepower respectively. It was not quite as strong as the carbon lamp, and on alternating current the wire crystallized more rapidly, so that it broke more easily, giving a shorter life than on direct current. It disappeared from use in 1913.