Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com where smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain. Today's question, how does a three way light bulb work? The answer is pretty easy. A three way bulb has two filaments inside of it. The next time one burns out, carefully open it, for example, wrap it in a towel and hit it lately with a hammer, and you'll see the two separate filaments inside the bulb. For the lowest setting, one filament
comes on, it might be a fifty watt filament. For the next setting, the second filament comes on, it might be a hundred watt filament. For the third setting, both come on for a total of a hundred and fifty watts. Look at the end of the bulb's base you'll be able to see how the lamp switch controls the two filaments. Today, there are now three way fluorescent bulbs. In one design from ge there are two different tubes. Either one or both fluorescent tubes can be lit to create the same effect.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me an email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands of other topics go to how stuff works dot com. H