How the candle of Russian inventor Pavel Yablochkov illuminated the world

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In 1877, the Louvre, the Opera House and the central street of Paris were lit up with extraordinary light. At first, Parisians gathered at the lanterns to admire their brightness. A year earlier, publications of European countries were full of headlines: "Russia is the birthplace of electricity", "Light comes to us from the North - from Russia."

The Yablochkova candle, the arc lamp of a Russian engineer, changed the idea of the possibility of electric lighting. In April 1876, an exhibition of physical achievements opened in London. The French company "Breguet" was represented by the Russian inventor Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov, who presented his brainchild to the world - an electric carbon arc lamp without a regulator. It was a lamp consisting of two carbon rods placed side by side, but separated by kaolin insulation. The insulation not only held the rods together, but also allowed a volt arc to form between their upper ends.

London gasped when Yablochkov, by turning the handle of the dynamo, lit 4 lamps at once - lamps mounted on pedestals. The audience lit up with an unusually bright bluish light.

Its ease of use has surpassed its predecessors. There was no need to adjust the distance between the rods using complex and expensive devices. This made it cheap and affordable, and therefore popular. "Yablochkov's Candle" quickly spread around the world: France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Philadelphia, Persia, Cambodia. She appeared in Russia in 1878. It cost 20 kopecks, the burning time was about 1.5 hours. Then a new lamp had to be inserted into the lantern. Later, devices for automatic change of the "Russian lamp" appeared. In April 1876, Yablochkov was elected a full member of the French Physical Society. In April 1879, the scientist was awarded the personalized medal of the Imperial Russian Technical Society. … On September 14, 1847, in the Serdobsky district of the Saratov province, a boy Pavel was born into the family of an impoverished small-land nobleman. Since childhood, he was fond of design and at the age of 11 he invented a counter for measuring distance on horse-drawn vehicles. Its principle of operation is the same as that used in modern speedometers. The Saratov men's gymnasium, the Nikolaev engineering school, which he graduated with the rank of second-lieutenant engineer, opened up military career opportunities for the young men. For a year he served as a junior officer in the 5th Combat Engineer Battalion, but then quit under the pretext of illness.

To fill the gaps in knowledge in electrical engineering, he entered the Technical Electroplating Institution in Kronstadt, the only school for military electrical engineers. After graduation, he serves for the prescribed 3 years, and then leaves the army and goes to civilian service. The head of the telegraph service of the Moscow-Kursk railway Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov combines work and inventive activity. In the spring of 1874, the government staff was expected. The leadership of the road decided to show loyal zeal and illuminate the path with an electric searchlight. We turned to the head of the telegraph service. An arc lamp with a Foucault regulator was installed on the locomotive. All the way Yablochkov stood on the site of the locomotive, changing the coal rods and constantly adjusting the distance between them. Not an easy task, but Pavel Nikolayevich coped with it. However, it was impossible to put into operation such a lamp.

Yablochkov leaves the service and opens a workshop for physical devices, where he conducts experiments with electricity. He comes up with the idea of creating an arc lamp without complicated regulators. He travels to Philadelphia for the World's Fair. But the funds were only enough to go to Paris. There he met the academician Breguet, who immediately appreciated the potential of the Russian inventor, inviting him to work in his workshops. Yablochkov accepted the offer. It was from the Breguet firm that he presented his lamp at an exhibition in London. The age of "Yablochkov's candles" was short. At the Paris exhibition of 1881, his invention was highly appreciated, but incandescent lamps were presented at the same exhibition, capable of working continuously for up to 1000 hours without replacement. Yablochkov began to work on the creation of a powerful chemical current source. Experiments with chlorine lead to burns of the mucous membrane of the lungs, but work continues. In 1892 he returned to his homeland. In St. Petersburg they forgot about him, and Yablochkov moved to the family estate, intending to continue working there. There were no conditions in the village, and he moved to Saratov. After returning to his homeland, he spent all his fortune to buy out the patents of his inventions so that they belong to Russia. The arc lamp is not his only invention. Yablochkov also created the world's first transformer. Elements that step down the AC voltage are still used. Suddenly they remembered about the "Yablochkov candle", seemingly forgotten long ago: xenon light again uses an electric arc.

In March 1894, the inventor passed away. He was 46 years old. The streets of many cities have been named after a Russian inventor. One of the central streets of Saratov is Yablochkov Street. Saratov Radio Engineering College was named after him.

In 1970, a crater on the far side of the moon was named in honor of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov.