Chapter 1820, the electrical age seems to be coming soon
Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin's expression and smiled proudly.
To be honest, anyone who sees this thing for the first time will be shocked by it. It does not require candles, oil, or firewood, and it can light up the night like a candle.
This is a miracle, an incredible and great invention.
At least that's what Zhu Houzhao thinks.
"What is this?"
Although Liu Jin already knew that this was an early electric light, he still pretended to be surprised and asked.
"Haha, as for this thing, I named it an electric lamp, which means that electricity is used as a lamp for lighting."
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Let me tell you, we discovered this accidentally and then finally studied it through a lot of experiments."
"In the process of studying electromagnetism, we found that when current passes through some objects with relatively large resistance, the objects will heat up quickly, so we thought about whether we could study this phenomenon separately."
"Unintentionally, we also discovered that when the current is large enough, it will not only generate heat, but it will also gradually glow, and then become as bright as a candle, or even brighter than a candle.
"
"So I studied this thing specifically, and slowly discovered many interesting things. After thousands of experiments, we slowly developed the electric lamp in front of us."
"It is a silk thread obtained by carbonizing cotton silk. When it is turned into a spiral shape, and an electric current is connected, it will emit bright light. The intensity of this light is much stronger than that of a candle."
"And it lasts for dozens of hours!"
Zhu Houzhao couldn't hide any secrets or things. He didn't need Liu Jin to ask anything, he just told everything by himself.
“Cotton silk carbonization?”
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately frowned. Shouldn't this filament be made of tungsten filament?
Can this cotton filament be used to make lamp filament?
Of course Liu Jin didn't know that. In fact, in the history of the development of electric lamps, in the early days, when scientists conducted research, they used cotton filaments, bamboo filaments and the like to be carbonized first, and then used as filaments.
, it was not until later, at the beginning of the 20th century, that the Austrians invented tungsten wire.
Compared with cotton and bamboo filaments, tungsten filament is brighter and has a longer lifespan. This is how electric lights began to enter thousands of households.
"Yes, uncarbonized cotton will be burned directly. Only after carbonization can the cotton be used as a filament. Only after being powered on can a bright light be emitted."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "In fact, not only cotton silk, but also many plant fibers can be used as filament. We have experimented with hundreds of plant fibers and found that cotton silk is relatively the best filament.
"
“Why not use wire?”
Liu Jin thought for a while and said.
"Metal wire is not suitable, because the melting point of metal wire is generally low, and it often melts immediately when electricity is applied. The wire after carbonization with these plant fibers is different, it will not melt all at once."
Zhu Houzhao hurriedly said: "I have tried using copper, iron, aluminum, lead, gold and silver, etc., but they all don't work. They will melt soon and have no practical significance. At present, only this carbonized cotton silk is relatively
It can be used longer and can illuminate for dozens of hours."
"That's it~"
"Then this should be related to the melting point. If it is made with metal wire with a high melting point, I feel it may be much better than cotton wire."
Liu Jin touched his chin, thought for a while and said.
"You are so smart, you figured out the key points right away."
"This is indeed related to the melting point. The melting point directly determines the life of the lamp."
"Metals generally have good electrical conductivity. If metal is used to make wires, the brightness will indeed be stronger than the cotton silk in front of us. However, there is still no metal wire that can withstand high temperatures."
"According to the data we calculated, after power is turned on, the temperature of the electric filament is over 1,000 degrees. This temperature can melt almost all metal filaments."
"Of course, there are not many types of metal wires currently being tested. I will continue to experiment with various metal wires later. Each metal has different characteristics. Maybe we can also find some high-temperature resistant metal wires.
come out."
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he immediately gave Liu Jin a thumbs up.
This Liu Jin is really evil. He immediately thought of the key point. As for the melting point, Zhu Houzhao and his team only decided on it after many discussions.
Liu Jin discovered the crux of the problem at a glance. He knew that the key point of the filament was related to the melting point, which is really admirable.
"In my opinion, the service life is not only determined by the material of the filament, but also by the reaction produced by the filament."
Liu Jin thought for a while and said again.
"How to say?"
Zhu Houzhao asked quickly after hearing this.
"When I went to Imperial College last time, I heard a professor from Imperial College talk about how the air is very complex. There is oxygen that can be used for breathing by humans and animals, and there are also some gases that are of no use."
"According to their research, they believe that oxygen is a very active gas and can easily react chemically with some things. For example, oxygen is needed when burning. Without oxygen, candles cannot burn."
"Your filament is directly exposed to the air. After it is powered on, it generates high temperature, which can easily react with the oxygen in the air, causing its lifespan to be drastically reduced."
Liu Jin pointed out to Zhu Houzhao some key points in making lighting lamps for later generations.
Electric lamps, electric lamps, don't say that they are filled with inert gas or something, at least you need to get a vacuum bulb, so that it can last longer.
If it is directly exposed to the air, it will have a long service life.
"Yes~"
"I actually forgot about this."
"Last time, I heard someone talk about oxygen and how it can assist combustion."
After Zhu Houzhao heard this, he suddenly slapped his thigh.
"Let me tell you, the reason why the service life of the filaments I studied is very short, it turns out to be because of the oxygen in the air."
"Then how to solve this problem?"
Zhu Houzhao suddenly became thoughtful. He looked at the glowing filament and began to meditate hard.
Liu Jin on the side looked at Zhu Houzhao who was thinking hard, and then looked at the researchers around him. They were also thinking hard now. Only Liu Jin, the little eunuch, did not think about these troublesome things.
He is already over sixty years old and has endured a lifetime.
Historically, he had already made his mark long ago. As Zhu Houzhao became emperor, he also became the Eunuch Liu that everyone feared. Of course, he died quickly as he rose to glory.
Historically, he was killed in the fifth year of Zhengde, but now it is the twenty-eighth year of Hongzhi, which counts as the tenth year of Zhengde in history.
He is still alive and well, and he is still the little eunuch beside Zhu Houzhao. If nothing happens, he will be seventy years old in a few years, and he will be able to enjoy his old age and retire gloriously.
Although he has never tasted the taste of power, he is still able to live a peaceful and old age. I don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing for him.
Sometimes blessings and misfortunes really depend on each other, and there are gains and losses.
Looking at Liu Jin, Liu Jin thought of himself. He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse for his high position. Since ancient times, there were not many ministers who could die well, especially reformers like Liu Jin who sat at the top.
Auxiliary above this position.
Shaking his head slightly, Liu Jin put these disturbing things behind him.
At present, it seems that the electrical age is coming soon.
When electric lights come out, other related electrical appliances are expected to spring up like mushrooms after a rain.
This speed can be said to be very fast.
The road that took hundreds of years to complete in history was now completed in the Ming Dynasty in only about 20 years.
When the electric light comes out and the electrical age arrives, the technological revolution and industrial revolution will develop and change in depth, bringing huge changes to the entire society.
In the future, the Ming Dynasty may move towards greater prosperity, but it may also produce large-scale unrest. After all, the power of capitalism will become stronger and stronger, and the systems and ideas of feudal society will severely restrict capital.
With the development of China, the contradiction between the two will become increasingly acute.
