how does the humphry davy lamp work

The British chemist, Sir Humphry Davy

(1778-1829) developed his safety lamp for miners around 1815. It employs his discovery that wire mesh can disseminate heat rapidly enough to prevent a candle’s heat from igniting methane gas. The flame would turn bluer and brighter around methane, and would dim or extinguish around too little oxygen.

Full Answer

How did Davy’s safety lamp work?

The British chemist, Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) developed his safety lamp for miners around 1815. It employs his discovery that wire mesh can disseminate heat rapidly enough to prevent a candle’s heat from igniting methane gas. The flame would turn bluer and brighter around methane, and would dim or extinguish around too little oxygen.

What was Davy’s miners lamp?

The first ever prototype of Davy’s miner’s safety lamp. Created in 1815, it was designed to be lit safely for miners to use without allowing the heat from the flame to explode the concentration of methane gas often found as miners dug deeper. Humphry Davy miners’ lamps.

Did Sir Humphry Davy invent the lamp?

Less than a month later, the Tyne Mercury published a hostile letter from a J. H. H. Holmes, prompted by “Several statements … in the London, Edinburgh, and different provincial papers of this district, relating to a lamp, or lamps, invented, or said to be invented, by Sir Humphry Davy, for preventing explosion in coal mines”.

How does an arc lamp work?

An arc lamp produces light by the sparking (an electrical arc) of a high current between two conducting electrodes, usually carbon rods. English physicist Sir Humphry Davy invented the arc lamp in the early 1800s by using charcoal sticks and a battery with 2,000 cells to create an arc across a 4-inch (100 millimeter) gap.

See more

How does a miners light work?

Mining Lights and Hats Carbide Lamps Carbide lamps are powered by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water (H2O). This reaction produces acetylene gas (C2H2) which burns a clean, white flame.

How did the Geordie lamp work?

The body of the lamp was lengthened to give the flame a greater convective draw, and thus allow a greater inlet flow restriction and make the lamp less sensitive to air currents. The lamp itself was surrounded by glass which had an additional perforated metal tube surrounding it for protection.

What fuel did the Davy lamp use?

It originally burned a heavy vegetable oil. The lamp also provided a test for the presence of gases. If flammable gas mixtures were present, the flame of the Davy lamp burned higher with a blue tinge. Lamps were equipped with a metal gauge to measure the height of the flame.

Are calcium carbide lamps safe?

The key to keeping a lamp functioning over a long period of time is careful attention to maintenance and cleaning. As has already been mentioned, the calcium hydroxide produced from using calcium carbide is harmful.

Who invented the miners safety lamp?

Sir Humphry DavyThe Englishman Sir Humphry Davy was already a scientist and inventor of national renown when he seized upon the idea of a safety lamp in 1815.

Where was the Davy lamp invented?

William Reid Clanny, an Irish doctor in practice near Sunderland, came up with a clumsy device in which the candle was inside a glass container. It was described in a paper read to the Royal Society in London in May 1813 and the following October saw the foundation of the Society for Preventing Accidents in Coal Mines.

Why are Geordies called Geordies?

The name originated during theJacobite Rebellion of 1745. The Jacobites declared that Newcastle and the surrounding areas favoured the Hanovarian King George and were “for George”. Hence the name Geordie used as a derivation of George.

How did the Davy lamp work?

The lamp also provided a test for the presence of gases. If flammable gas mixtures were present, the flame of the Davy lamp burned higher with a blue tinge. Lamps were equipped with a metal gauge to measure the height of the flame. Miners could place the safety lamp close to the ground to detect gases, such as carbon dioxide, that are denser than air and so could collect in depressions in the mine; if the mine air was oxygen-poor ( asphyxiant gas ), the lamp flame would be extinguished ( black damp or chokedamp ). A methane-air flame is extinguished at about 17% oxygen content (which will still support life), so the lamp gave an early indication of an unhealthy atmosphere, allowing the miners to get out before they died of asphyxiation.

What is a Davy lamp?

Diagram of a Davy lamp. The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres , invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It consists of a wick lamp with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen.

Why are Davy lamps unsafe?

The bare gauze was easily damaged, and once just a single wire broke or rusted away , the lamp became unsafe. Work carried out by a scientific witness and reported by the committee showed that the Davy lamp became unsafe in airflows so low that a Davy lamp carried at normal walking pace against normal airflows in walkways was only safe if provided with a draught shield:13–17 (not normally fitted), and the committee noted that accidents had happened when the lamp was "in general and careful use; no one survived to tell the tale of how these occurrences took place; conjecture supplied the want of positive knowledge most unsatisfactorily; but incidents are recorded which prove what must follow unreasonable testing of the lamp; and your Committee are constrained to believe that ignorance and a false reliance upon its merits, in cases attended with unwarrantable risks, have led to disastrous consequences":131 The "South Shields Committee", a body set up by a public meeting there (in response to an explosion at the St Hilda pit in 1839) to consider the prevention of accidents in mines had shown that mine ventilation in the North-East was generally deficient, with an insufficient supply of fresh air giving every opportunity for explosive mixtures of gas to accumulate.:28–36 A subsequent select committee in 1852 concurred with this view; firedamp explosions could best be prevented by improving mine ventilation (by the use of steam ejectors: the committee specifically advised against fan ventilation), which had been neglected because of over-reliance on the safety of the Davy lamp.:viii

How did Davy's lamp differ from Stephenson's?

Davy's lamp differed from Stephenson's in that the flame was surrounded by a screen of gauze, whereas Stephenson's prototype lamp had a perforated plate contained in a glass cylinder (a design mentioned in Davy's Royal Society paper as an alternative to his preferred solution). For his invention Davy was given £2,000 worth ...

What was the blue flame in the lamp?

At first a blue flame was seen to cap the flame of the lamp, - then succeeded a lambent flame, playing in the cylinder; and shortly after, the flame of the firedamp expanded, so as to completely fill the wire gauze.

What was the effect of the Davy lamp on mines?

More generally, the Select Committee on Accidents in Mines reported in 1835 that the introduction of the Davy lamp had led to an increase in mine accidents; the lamp encouraged the working of mines and parts of mines that had previously been closed for safety reasons.

What is the Davy torch used for?

It was used in the relays for the Sydney, Athens, Turin, Beijing, Vancouver and Singapore Youth Olympic Games.

What was the purpose of the Davy lamp?

The flame would turn bluer and brighter around methane, and would dim or extinguish around too little oxygen. Davy did not patent his lamp, and its use in mines began in 1816. For this invention the Royal Society awarded him the Rumford Medal that same year. A few years later, he was made a Baronet for his services to industry. The Davy lamp gave miners a way to detect dangerously low levels of oxygen, and reduced the possibility of explosions, saving an incalculable number of lives. But these advantages allowed mine operators to send their workers into places where they could never have gone before due to high concentrations of methane. Tragically, this caused many to die of suffocation. Davy became President of the Royal Society in 1820. His other contributions to science include the study of nitrous oxide gas, and the first suggestion that it could be used to relieve the pain of surgery. He also discovered the elements, chlorine and iodine. In 1869 the Royal Society established the Davy Medal in his honor.

Why was the Davy lamp invented?

The Davy lamp gave miners a way to detect dangerously low levels of oxygen, and reduced the possibility of explosions, saving an incalculable number of lives.

What were Davy's contributions to science?

His other contributions to science include the study of nitrous oxide gas, and the first suggestion that it could be used to relieve the pain of surgery. He also discovered the elements, chlorine and iodine. In 1869 the Royal Society established the Davy Medal in his honor. Catalog Record: Davy Lamp. Access Key: akvs.

Who invented the lamp for coal miners?

mitigate the pain of surgery also invented a well known lamp for coal miners. The chemist was Humphry Davy (1778-1829). His 1799 recommendation to use. nitrous oxide during surgery went unnoticed, but his other insights on. nitrous oxide brought him significant opportunities and a certain amount of.

When was the miners lamp invented?

Davy invented the miners lamp in 1815 in response to deadly mine explosions.

How big is a lamp by the hook?

by the hook is approximately 23 cm.; The lamp sits on a circular base, or

What was the key feature of Davy's so-called “safe lamp” of October 1815?

The key feature of Davy’s so-called “safe lamp” of October 1815 was a series of narrow ventilation tubes, within which, Davy found, fire-damp would not explode. Clanny’s lamp made use of bellows and a pair of water cisterns to maintain an isolated flame. As a private letter to James Perry of 13 December 1815 ( now held at Yale University Library) ...

When were Davy's and Stephenson's safety lamps invented?

The initial invention and subsequent development of Davy’s and Stephenson’s lamps in the autumn and winter of 1815 appears to be an occurrence of “multiple independent discovery”, as commented on by Robert K. Merton, amongst others.

Why was the safety lamp controversy played out?

Evidently, attempting to recognise the inventor of the miners’ safety lamp is problematic. It was such reductiveness that ignited and then fuelled the “safety lamp controversy”, which was played out – on newspaper letters pages, at public meetings, and in private correspondence – for months. Several different lamps, produced in response to a common problem by several different inventors, were in co-existence in the 1810s. The drawn-out quarrelling between opposing camps meant that that co-existence was rarely peaceful, though.

What is the name of the gas that Davy discovered?

In it, Davy described his researches into the chemical composition of “fire-damp” – the common name given to the naturally occurring mixture of flammable gases, mostly methane, that had caused several horrific mining disasters – and outlined several designs of lamp that might be used safely in the presence of the gas.

How did Stephenson come up with the lamp?

Stephenson, the largely self-educated mechanic, arrived at his design of lamp by what has been called “practical empiricism”: a combination of, as David Knight has observed, intuition and common sense, involving a fair amount of trial and error. Davy, on the other hand, the established and well-connected man of science, understood the principle by which his lamp worked: he spent hours experimenting on samples of fire-damp, sent in sealed bottles from the north-east, in the laboratory of the Royal Institution, then used his research findings to shape his design.

Which lamp was more compact, Clanny's or Stephenson's?

Stephenson’s and Davy’s lamps, which were more compact and more practical than Clanny’s, operated on a different principle. And, although Stephenson was the first to test his lamp in a working mine, Davy was the first to understand the science behind his lamp in the laboratory. Clanny, Stephenson, and Davy can each attach priority – or ...

Did Davy and Stephenson work independently?

Davy and Stephenson had worked independently, and there is no persuasive evidence of any kind of “borrowing” on either side in 1815. Davy had had the benefit of seeing a working example of Clanny’s lamp, but his own “safe lamp” with narrow ventilation tubes was a very different machine to Clanny’s. The improved lamp Davy designed in the final days of December, which replaced the tubes with a wire gauze cylinder enclosing the flame, was, again, a different machine to Stephenson’s.

When was the Humphry Davy lamp invented?

Created in 1815, it was designed to be lit safely for miners to use without allowing the heat from the flame to explode the concentration of methane gas often found as miners dug deeper. Humphry Davy miners’ lamps. Credit: Paul Wilkinson.

What is the Davy lamp?

From the invention of the Davy Lamp or flame safety lamp came the mining lamps used to the present day, here are a few words on the historic importance of the Davy Lamp. History of the Davy Lamp; The following remarks were suggested on frequently witnessing the indifference with which the colliers, while at work seem to treat ...

What is the safety lamp made of?

The flame of the safety lamp is surrounded by a gauze cylinder, made of iron or copper wire. The spaces between the wires should never exceed one twenty-fourth part of an inch or in other words, there should always be, at least, 24 of those spaces in the length of one inch in every part of the gauze, for this reason, that the flame or blaze will not pass through the wire gauze at or above that fineness, but through coarser it will. This is the sole principle of the safety lamp and one which the colliers ought always to bear in mind

How big of a hole should a lamp be?

You therefore see the necessity of taking great care of your lamps at all times from injure, for should there be any hole or aperture whatever later than one twenty fourth of an inch in size, whether in the gauze or bottom, or any part whatever, you might well go to work with a naked candle as for any protection a lamp in that state could afford you, its efficiency being entirely destroyed by any such hoe.

Where are Davy lamps made?

The Davy Lamp was the first widely recognised mining lamp also known as a flame safety lamp. They have been made at Protector Lamp in Eccles, England since 1873.

Who discovered the Davy safety lamp?

This gas which is constantly disengaged during the working of coal, was an almost insurmountable obstacle to the working of many of our collieries until the discovery of the Davy safety lamp by Sir Humphry Davy about 25 years ago.*

Can you open a lamp while working?

Never, on any account, open the lamp while in your works, either for the purpose of giving a light to a fellow workman, or for the sake of smoking a pipe or anything whatever.

How does an arc lamp work?

An arc lamp produces light by the sparking (an electrical arc) of a high current between two conducting electrodes , usually carbon rods. English physicist Sir Humphry Davy invented the arc lamp in the early 1800s by using charcoal sticks and a battery with 2,000 cells to create an arc across a 4-inch (100 millimeter) gap.

When were arc lamps invented?

When suitable electric generators became available in the late 1870s, the practical use of arc lamps began. The Yablochkov candle, an arc lamp invented by the Russian engineer Pavel Yablochkov, was used for street lighting in Paris and other European cities starting in 1878.

What is an arc lamp?

The term arc lamp is usually restricted to lamps with an air gap between consumable carbon electrodes, but fluorescent and other electric discharge lamps generate light from arcs in gas-filled tubes. Some ultraviolet lamps are also of the arc type. Last modified on 17 June 2019. back to top.

What was the first electric light?

Arc Lamp. Invented decades before it could be used, the first type of electric light was so brilliant it was used for lighthouses and street lamps. An arc lamp produces light by the sparking (an electrical arc) of a high current between two conducting electrodes, usually carbon rods. English physicist Sir Humphry Davy invented the arc lamp in ...

Overview

Impact

In 1816, the Cumberland Pacquet reported a demonstration of the Davy lamp at William Pit, Whitehaven. Placed in a blower "... the effect was grand beyond description. At first a blue flame was seen to cap the flame of the lamp, – then succeeded a lambent flame, playing in the cylinder; and shortly after, the flame of the firedamp expanded, so as to completely fill the wire gauze. For some time, the flame of the lamp was seen through that of the firedamp, which became ultimate…

History

Design and theory

Successors

Further reading

External links