Chapter 188: Light Bulb

The investment in the Valencia Shipyard was only 25 million pesetas; for Gao Da, this capital could only be considered a small trial.

Next, Gao Da mobilized a large amount of capital to invest in and support Spain's relatively weak heavy industries, such as metallurgy, mechanical manufacturing, chemical engineering, materials, and so on.

The average investment in each of these five major areas exceeded 20 million pesetas, with a cumulative investment of over 100 million pesetas, which could be considered a significant expenditure.

Even with an investment of over 100 million pesetas, it was still impossible to rapidly promote the development of these industries in a short period. What could be achieved was only an effective promotion of industrial improvement, and it would take a long time to obtain certain results.

At least with the royal family's financial support of over 100 million pesetas, the private enterprises in these industries could continue to survive and possess sufficient capital to carry out technical improvements.

In addition to directly supporting enterprises in these industries, another choice for the royal family was to vigorously cultivate excellent talent in these areas, providing a constant stream of fresh blood for these industries.

To this end, Gao Da personally ordered the education department, requiring the education department to assist certain universities in professional construction and restructuring.

Currently, several universities have already added majors and subjects related to heavy industry under the orders of the education department, effectively supplementing Spain's talent cultivation system in these fields.

Establishing a perfect talent cultivation system is definitely the most effective way to promote an industry. Talent is the most important thing for any industry, more important than any ready-made technology or equipment.

After all, only with sufficient talent and a perfect talent cultivation system can the industry's technology achieve constant progress.

If there is a shortage of talent, even if a temporary lead can be obtained, future technological progress will still stagnate due to the loss of excellent talent.

In addition to these heavy industries, in terms of electricity, after many years, the power laboratory finally had some results.

To be precise, it has been more than five years since the power laboratory was built. In these five years, the power laboratory built a DC generator and an AC generator, and under Gao Da's hint, discovered the electric motor.

This was not the end; Gramme had been exploring more extensive use cases for electricity and delved into the research of light bulbs.

Before the birth of the light bulb, people's main way of lighting was relying on flames and kerosene lamps; kerosene is also one of the main uses of petroleum at present.

These two lighting methods have great defects. Needless to say, using flames for lighting not only wastes various forms of fuel, but the light is also not very bright.

Although kerosene lamps only need kerosene as energy, the brightness of kerosene lamps is not high, only allowing people to barely see things.

It is precisely because of this reason that the birth of the light bulb was promoted. Even the most primitive light bulb is not inferior to a kerosene lamp in terms of brightness.

If it were not for the limited service life and the development of electricity, the light bulb could definitely replace the kerosene lamp in a short time and become the most important lighting method for people's daily lives.

Before Gramme invested heavily in the research of light bulbs, the research on light bulbs was still in a broad exploration stage.

When people in later generations mention light bulbs, the easiest thing to think of is Edison. But in fact, the first person to invent the light bulb was the American scientist Henry Woodward. He used carbonized bamboo filaments placed in a glass bottle and electrified them, which could achieve lighting for over 400 hours.

However, because Henry Woodward did not apply for a patent in time, it eventually led to him not being as famous as Edison, the "King of Inventors," in the invention of the light bulb.

Edison was definitely a capable scientist, but he was even more of an extremely excellent capitalist. At least Edison's reputation is not so accurate; a considerable number of inventions were named after Edison after he purchased the patents.

Gao Da had a certain understanding of this development history of the light bulb. Edison's light bulb patent was purchased from a Canadian scientist, and the reason for the sale was that the Canadian scientist could no longer continue the research on the light bulb.

To put it bluntly, scientific research requires a lot of R&D funds. The birth of the light bulb was the result of relevant scientists experimenting with relevant materials time and time again, and finally, the light bulb was born.

Gao Da knew that before the birth of the tungsten filament light bulb, the longest-lived and most effective light bulb was the carbon filament light bulb.

Therefore, Gramme's light bulb research was aimed directly at the carbon filament light bulb from the beginning, to explore a commercial light bulb that could be used for at least several hundred hours.

After these five years of exploration and experimentation, finally, Gramme brought good news to Gao Da: the power laboratory successfully manufactured carbon filament light bulbs with an average service life of up to 300 hours.

Upon learning this news, Gao Da happily went to the power laboratory to find out.

When Gao Da arrived at the power laboratory, Gramme had already prepared the relevant light bulb experiment, waiting for Gao Da's personal viewing and testing.

"Your Majesty, what you are currently seeing is our entire experimental process for the carbon filament light bulb.

Our initial experimental object was carbonized cotton thread; this kind of light bulb had a service life of up to 40 hours. However, this service life obviously could not meet the needs of commercial use. On this basis, we tested carbonized bamboo filaments and cardboard, and finally obtained the commercial light bulb with an average service life of over 300 hours that you see before you." Gramme introduced the experimental process of the light bulb filament to Gao Da with an excited face, and the excitement and admiration in his eyes were almost about to overflow.

The power laboratory had indeed achieved good results in these five years, but whether it was the electric motor or the carbon filament light bulb, the relevant theories were all proposed by Gao Da.

This made Gramme admire Gao Da very much, even feeling that Gao Da was a born scientist. If he had not become the King of Spain, Gao Da would definitely have become one of the greatest scientists in human history, and perhaps his achievements would not be inferior to being a king.

Unfortunately, Gao Da, who had already become the King of Spain, obviously did not have much energy to invest in scientific research, which also made Gramme, who admired Gao Da very much, feel very regretful, thinking that humanity might have missed a great scientist.

Hearing Gramme's introduction, Gao Da nodded with a smile and asked his own question: "Mr. Gramme, can the current service life of this kind of carbon filament light bulb be guaranteed to be over 300 hours?"

A service life of 300 hours is definitely short for the light bulbs of later generations, but it is definitely a huge improvement for the light bulbs of this era.

For ordinary families, the electric light cannot be on all night; the lighting time for one night is basically the first few hours when it gets dark.

Calculated at 3 to 4 hours of lighting per day, the service life of such a carbon filament light bulb will reach about 75 to 100 days, which is about three months.

Even for street lamps that are lit all night, calculated at at least ten hours of lighting per day, a service life of 300 hours can also be used for more than ten days.

This era is not like later generations, where many highways are equipped with street lamps. Even if Spain has the need to build street lamps, it will only be in some relatively prosperous streets and cities; ordinary highways are not even worth thinking about.

Considering all the above, although the service life of 300 hours is not long, it is definitely enough for commercial use. As long as the production cost of the light bulb is not high, it can ensure that such a light bulb can be fully put into commercial use, and thereby promote the use of electricity; this is also the reason why Gao Da cares about the service life of these carbon filament light bulbs.

"We have manufactured a total of hundreds of such carbon filament light bulbs, of which more than 60 carbon filament light bulbs have a service life of over 400 hours, nearly 20 carbon filament light bulbs have a service life of over 350 hours, and only less than 20 carbon filament light bulbs have a service life that barely maintains around 300 hours.

Your Majesty, according to such experimental results, we are confident in ensuring that the service life of the carbon filament light bulb is maintained at over 300 hours, and it is even possible to increase it to over 350 hours in a short time." Mentioning the actual service life of the carbon filament light bulb, Gramme was full of excitement and quickly answered Gao Da's question.

Compared with the light bulb research and registered patents currently being conducted by various countries, this light bulb from Spain with a minimum service life of 300 hours is definitely relatively leading.

Being able to personally complete such an achievement, for Gramme, who loves scientific research, this is more beautiful, more exciting, and more thrilling than anything else.

Gao Da nodded, and the smile on his face deepened.

It seems that the light bulb with a service life of 300 hours reported by Gramme is actually relatively conservative.

Because the service life of most light bulbs exceeded 400 hours, and only some of the inferior products had a service life of only 350 or 300 hours.

According to the exaggerated propaganda methods of some capitalists, these carbon filament light bulbs could be completely advertised as an exaggerated achievement with an average service life of over 400 hours and a maximum service life of nearly 500 hours.

Gramme did not do this, which also proved his rigor regarding experimental data.

"Light up a few light bulbs," Gao Da ordered.

Gao Da was still quite curious about these most primitive electric lights. Although Gao Da had also experienced that kind of dim incandescent lamp, it was, after all, a product that had been improved many times over 100 years later.

And what exactly these most primitive incandescent lamps from over 100 years ago looked like, as well as the brightness of the electric lights, were things that Gao Da did not know now.

Hearing Gao Da's order, Gramme signaled his assistant to turn on the switch.

With a click of the switch, several light bulbs placed on the laboratory bench lit up instantly. Because it was daytime, the brightness of the light bulbs was not high, and it could even be said to be very faint.

Gao Da frowned; it seemed that conducting light bulb experiments during the day was not a wise choice.

Fortunately, the power laboratory had a way to deal with it. All the windows were covered with curtains, and the places where light could enter were also closed, making the laboratory completely dim.

With the dim laboratory as a backdrop, the light bulbs that originally had faint light instantly became bright. Although not as stunning as those lights of later generations, for 1875, when electricity had just started, such light was like a spark on the prairie, ready to rise with the wind and start a prairie fire.

Feeling the brightness of the light bulbs, Gao Da nodded, and he was quite satisfied in his heart.

Subsequently, the light bulbs were turned off, and several kerosene lamps were lit again.

Now the contrast was even more obvious. Although the brightness of the previous light bulbs was not that high, they were definitely clearer than kerosene lamps.

If we only talk about brightness, the brightness of this kind of light bulb is at least several times that of a kerosene lamp, and seeing things is also much clearer.

Working in the environment of a light bulb, at least it will not hurt the eyes as much as a kerosene lamp. With such a comparison, Gao Da was even more satisfied with the current light bulbs.

"Your Majesty, what you see are the small light bulbs we manufactured, mainly for civilian lighting.

Considering the lighting needs of factories and large public areas, we have also specially produced larger light bulbs, and the brightness is much brighter than these small civilian light bulbs." Seeing Gao Da's satisfied expression, Gramme was obviously more relieved and continued to introduce other types of light bulbs to Gao Da.

Hearing that there were other larger light bulbs, Gao Da became even more curious and said with a smile: "Larger light bulbs? How is the service life of such light bulbs?"

While ordering people to install larger light bulbs for experiments, Gramme answered Gao Da's question: "Because the current technology is limited, the service life of this kind of larger light bulb is far inferior to that of small light bulbs.

After our hundreds of experiments, it was finally determined that the service life of this kind of large carbon filament light bulb is only about 120 to 150 hours, and it cannot be used with high intensity.

But in terms of brightness, the brightness of the large carbon filament light bulb is more than 3 times that of the small carbon filament light bulb, which can illuminate a wider environment."

Perhaps because of the many experiments, the laboratory staff installed the large light bulb very quickly, and they had already installed a large light bulb during the conversation.

In order to highlight the brightness of the large light bulb, this test would only use one large light bulb, and the brightness would still be compared with several small light bulbs and several kerosene lamps.

With the familiar click, this larger light bulb lit up instantly, emitting a brighter luster.

Gao Da looked around the entire experimental area and found that it was indeed much brighter than the lighting of the previous few small light bulbs. If the previous small light bulbs could only illuminate a circle with a radius of three or four meters, then the current large light bulb could illuminate a large circle with a radius of at least five or six meters, and the lighting area was almost doubled.

Although the lighting area only doubled, the brightness also improved a lot. Indeed, for factories and some public areas, such large light bulbs are a more suitable choice.

If those small light bulbs were used as street lamps for lighting, unless the height of the street lamp was only two meters, the lighting effect would not be good at all.

But if it were replaced with this kind of larger light bulb, the height of the street lamp could be increased to more than three meters, the range of illuminating the road surface would also be larger, and it could also prevent some incidents of stealing light bulbs.

After all, if the street lamp is only two meters high, many people can reach the light bulb in the street lamp by standing on tiptoe. Even if the cost of the light bulb is not high, the selling price will definitely increase to a certain extent.

In order to prevent this phenomenon, it is better for street lamps to be as high as possible. Not only can it illuminate a larger road area, but it can also be better looking and easier to maintain.

Since it has been determined that it is brighter than those small light bulbs, then the next comparison with kerosene lamps does not need to be carried out.

The brightness of kerosene lamps is the weakest, but because they are easy to carry, and kerosene is cheap, they have become the main lighting method for people's daily lives.

But in fact, the lighting of kerosene lamps is really not as bright as lighting a fire. The reason why Gao Da does not like to work at night is that he does not like the dim lighting of kerosene lamps. Now that there are light bulbs, it can allow Gao Da's office time to be extended by another hour or two.

"What is the cost of such light bulbs? If mass-produced, can the output meet the current needs of Spain?" After confirming that the current light bulbs were enough to be put into commercial use, Gao Da asked the question he was more concerned about again.

There are two relatively important factors for the commercial use of light bulbs: one is the output of light bulbs, and the other is the selling price of light bulbs.

After all, this is something with a service life, and the service life also needs to be flexibly changed according to the lighting time of the light bulb.

If the selling price is too high, I am afraid that most civilians will not be able to afford it.

Of course, this also has to be under the condition that Spain's circuit network is roughly laid out. At present, let alone electricity in every village, Spain cannot even achieve electricity in every city.

Even the generators currently owned by the power laboratory can only meet the electricity needs of a small amount of experimental equipment and cannot promote the popularization of electricity on a large scale at all.

This also means that before the light bulb is fully commercialized and promoted to the whole of Spain, there is one thing that must be done, and that is to build a large number of power plants to rapidly improve Spain's power generation capacity.

"At present, the cost of small light bulbs is not expensive; there are only two main accessories, which are the glass lampshade and the carbonized cardboard.

According to our estimates, if such small light bulbs are mass-produced, it can also effectively reduce the cost of light bulbs.

The cost of small light bulbs currently manufactured by the laboratory is about 2. 2 pesetas, but if they can be mass-produced, the cost should be reduced to below 1. pesetas.

As for the question of whether the output can meet the needs of Spain, I think that before our power plants are built in large numbers, Spain will not have too many needs for light bulbs.

Your Majesty, regarding the promotion and use of electricity, I think it is necessary for us to establish a large demonstration area to show the advancement of electricity to all Spaniards, and at the same time serve as a model for our power promotion and use." Gramme answered Gao Da's questions one by one.

Gao Da nodded, and he was quite in agreement with what Gramme said.

Light bulbs need electricity; before electricity is connected, even if there are light bulbs, they cannot play their role.

Connecting electricity is very troublesome. It not only requires building power plants but also requires connecting power plants to the areas where electricity is used. This also involves problems of voltage and power loss, which cannot be explained in a few words.

What is certain is that even if the current light bulb has been born, it is impossible for ordinary people to enjoy light bulbs.

It is nothing more than some nobles and capitalists who can use their own financial resources to build small power stations, lead electricity to their own living areas, and drive other electrical equipment including light bulbs.

Perhaps it can also promote the reform of some factories. Electricity is also a very important energy source; electric motors can replace some steam engines and become important power equipment for factories.

This includes factories, which can also use electric lights for illumination to improve their efficiency. It was very difficult for factories to implement two shifts before, as lighting at night was a major problem.

But if electric light bulbs are used on a large scale, factories can remain brightly lit at night, allowing another group of workers to replace the daytime workers for production, enabling a two-shift production model and significantly increasing production efficiency.

Doing this might exploit the workers of Xibanyazheng Prefecture, but this is also unavoidable. After all, various forms of exploitation exist even in later generations, and there are plenty of workers who work over a dozen hours a day.

To talk about an eight-hour workday, weekends off, and protecting workers' rights in the year 1875 is to go against this era.

A 5, 00-character two-in-one chapter, please support!

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(End of this chapter)