Centennial College

ELETRICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

Course: EET 314 Lighting Design Technology

N Name (Please Print): _Vraj Patel _________________________

Student Number: _301220791________________________
Date: _September 12, 2023 _______________

Lab # 1
Title: Light Spectrum & Luminous Efficacy
1. OBJECTIVE
 To understand the characteristics of electromagnetic waves and
electromagnetic spectrum.
 To compare the light spectrum for different light sources.
 Develop an understanding of the different colour wavelengths present in light
sources
 Preform lighting calculations to determine relative lighting efficacy between
different light sources.

2. THEORY

The entire light spectrum span electromagnetic waves that are kilometers long to
waves that are extremely short. The light that we see (visible light) only spans about
1.5% of the entire spectrum.

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 Figure 1

Over 300 years ago, Newton experimented with a prism and realized that white light
was actually all colours combined.

Figure 2
A spectroscope is similar to a prism in that it can break up light into its components.
At one end of the spectroscope is a square film of material that acts like a prism. The
film is called a diffraction grating. It bends the light through it and causes the light to
spread out in different wavelengths of light.

The sensitivity of the human eye is greatest at the green-yellow wavelengths

Light produced from objects that are hot (like a filament) creates a spectrum of colors
that is smooth and follows a bell curve. In the case of an incandescent bulb, the light
produces a yellowish-white glow.

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 Figure 3

As we increase the temperature of the filament, the light becomes more white. At
around 5,000 degrees Celsius an object looks white because the spectrum centers
around yellow with lesser amounts of green, blue, purple at smaller wavelengths, and
lesser amounts of orange and red at longer wavelengths.

Figure 4

Below the spectrum for a typical incandescent bulb. Note that the spectrum is
continuous. Note that most of the spectrum is consists of yellow-green band.

Figure 5

Fluorescent lights however, produce light a different way. In the below diagram we
see mercury atoms. At high voltage the outer electrons of mercury are stripped off.
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The will fall back into a neighboring mercury atom. As they do, they give off a photon
of ultraviolet light (which we can't see). However, this UV photon strikes the inside of
the fluorescent bulb, which is coated with various phosphors. A phosphor is a mineral
that absorbs UV light and converts it to visible light. Zinc sulfide (ZnS) doped with
silver and aluminum emits blue light. Many phosphors use exotic metals to create
different colors.

Figure 6

When fluorescent light passes through the spectroscope, the white light is spread out
so that we can see the separate bands of colors. Here, it seems there are five
different phosphors. For us to think we see white light, colors from middle and both
ends of the spectrum need to be present. Those are red, green or yellow (middle),
and blue or purple. This is enough to give the appearance of white. Extra bands help
fill in more colors. The reason that the CFL spectrum looks like needles is that it
contains narrow line width emitting phosphors.

Figure 7

Candela, Lumen, Lux: the equations

Light is measured with different techniques, and therefore there is a handful of

related, but different, units of measurements. This article gives a brief overview of the
most widely used measures and presents a few equations for conversion of one
measure into another.

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Candela: The candela (unit cd) has its origin in the brightness of a "standard candle",
but it has received a more precise definition in the International System of Units (SI)
—and at that time the unit was also renamed from "candle" to "candela".

The candela measures the amount of light

emitted in the range of a (three-dimensional)
angular span. Since the luminous intensity is
described in terms of an angle, the distance at
which you measure this intensity is irrelevant.
For ease of illustration, in the picture at the right
the three dimensions have been flattened to two.
In this picture, screen B would catch exactly the same amount of light rays (emitted
from the light source) as screen A —provided that screen A were removed to not
obscure screen B. This is because screen B covers the same angle as screen A.

Lumen: If you look at LEDs, especially high-brightness LEDs, you may notice that
the LEDs with a high luminous intensity (in candela or milli-candela, mcd) typically
have a narrow beam angle. Similarly, LEDs with a wide beam angle typically have a
relatively low luminous intensity. The same is true for halogen spots with reflector:
those with a narrow-beam reflector have a higher rating in candela than the
"floodlight" spots of the same power.

The cause for this relation is the total energy produced by the LED. LEDs of a
specific class (for example, "high flux") all produce roughly the same amount of
luminous energy. However, when a LED emits its total energy in a narrow angle, the
intensity will be greater (in the direction of that angle) than when the same energy
had been emitted over a wide angle.

The lumen (unit lm) gives the total luminous flux of a light source by multiplying the
intensity (in candela) by the angular span over which the light is emitted. With the
symbol Φv for lumen, Iv for candela and Ω for the angular span in steradian, the
relation is Φv =Iv⋅. Ω

Lux: Lux (unit lx) is a measure of illumination of a surface. Light meters often
measure Lux values (or foot-candles, but these are directly related: one foot-candle
is 10.764 lx). Formally, Lux is a derived unit from lumen, which is a derived unit from
candela. Yet, the concept of Lux is more easily compared to candela than to lumen.

The difference between Lux and candela is that

Lux measures the illumination of a surface,
instead of that of an angle. The net result is that
the distance of that surface from the light source
becomes an important factor: the more distant
that the surface is from the light source, the less
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it will be illuminated by it. In the picture at the right, screen A has the same size as
screen B.

One steradian on a sphere with a diameter of one meter gives a surface of one m 2.
From this, it follows that at a measuring distance of 1 meter, the values for candela
(lumen per steradian) and Lux (lumen per m2) are the same. In general,
measurements in Lux can be converted to and from candelas if the measurement
distance is known. Note that when measuring LEDs, the virtual origin of the light
source lies a few millimeters behind the physical point source because of the lens of
the LED —this becomes relevant when measuring LEDs at a short distance.

Lighting efficiency: There are ample ways to illuminate a surface or a room:

incandescent lamps, fluorescent tubes, LEDs, tungsten-halogen bulbs,
electroluminescent sheets, and others. These are often compared in their efficiency
of turning electrical energy to luminous energy.

The official name for lighting efficiency is "luminous efficacy of a source". This should
not be confused with the "luminous efficacy of radiation", which disregards losses
due to heat generation and others (and therefore gives significantly higher values).
The lighting efficiency is measured in lm/W (lumen per Watt).

Lighting efficiency is often expressed as a percentage, based on the theoretical

maximum value of lighting efficiency of 683.002 lm/W (at a wavelength of 555 nm).
For example, at the time of this writing, a white 1 Watt "lumiled" can reach an
efficiency of over 100 lm/W, giving an efficiency of 15%. While this may seem low,
LEDs are actually quite efficient in comparison with other lighting methods.

2. MATERIALS REQUIRED

Cell phone (student provide)

Foldable mini-spectrometer
Enclosure with the lamp holder
A/C 120 volts power source
Incandescent light bulb (60W and 100W)
Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Light bulb
LED light bulb (cool white & warm white)
Power meter

NOTE: Do not install any improper or damaged components. Wiring must be

performed to meet current electrical code requirements.

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3. PROCEDURE

PART 1 : Light Spectrum

1. Assemble mini-spectrometer as shown on instruction sheet.

To work as a diffraction grating the DVD-R must be placed so that its
grating is vertical, making a horizontal spectral rainbow.
2. Attach to cell phone as shown in picture below (Figure A).
The spectrometer can be mounted on a camera phone with the help of the
box. Line up carefully so that the rainbow is in the middle of the image, and
tape down firmly so that the spectrometer stays rigid.

Figure A

3. Make sure that the main lights above the test area are off
4. Attach incandescent light bulb to lamp holder, and point camera so that you
can see the colour spectrum. Take a picture using your cell phone camera.
Observe colour spectrum.
5. Repeat step 4 with CFL and LED light bulbs. Observe colour spectrum
6. Upload photos to the eCentennial Dropbox folder or print (in colour) and
submit with report to your professor. Make sure to label all picture files.
7. Answer all questions for this lab listed below.

PART 2 : Lighting Efficacy Calculations

1. Plug power meter into 120VAC source, and measure the power consumption
for incandescent, CFL and LED lamps. Record the values in Table 2.
2. Fill in the table below and calculate the efficacy for each light source. For the
lumen value, use the rated value as indicated from manufacturers specs.

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Table 1 Efficacies for different light sources
Light Source Luminous Flux Power Luminous Efficacy
(Lumens) (Watts) (Lumens/ Watts)

Incandescent 2500 119.3 20.95

(100W)
CFL 3274 13.9 235.54
LED (warm white) 4180 7.7 542.85
LED (cool white) 4740 9.4 504.25
Note: The actual lumen value may vary from manufacturers’ specifications. This method for calculating
efficacy only provides a rough calculation used to compare relative efficacies between different light
sources. To get accurate Lumen values, a device called integrating sphere is used to measure luminous
flux.

4. QUESTIONS

1. What type of wave is visible light? How can light be separated into its different
wavelengths/colors?

Visible light is an electromagnetic wave, having an approximate wavelength

between the range of 400 nm to 700 nm. If the light is passed through a prism
or a spectroscope, it bends the light and causes it to create a spectrum of
different wavelengths/colors of light.

2. Why does incandescent bulb produce a more yellowish colour than

fluorescent or LED?

Incandescent bulbs produce more yellowish color because they emit light by
heating a filament to a high temperature, which primarily produces a warm
spectrum of light with more red and yellow wavelengths, however; fluorescent
or LED lights generate light through different mechanisms that can cause
cooler and bluish tones.

3. How does the spectrum of incandescent, CFL and LED bulbs compare with
each other? Write your observations.

The spectrum of incandescent bulbs is warm and has a higher proportion of

red and yellow wavelengths, resulting in a yellowish light. CFL bulb has a
cooler spectrum with more green and blue wavelengths, generating a white
light. LED Cool White has a high proportion of blue wavelengths, that give
bluish-white light, whereas; LED Warm White has a spectrum with more red
and yellow wavelengths and a fading blue wavelength; which gives yellowish-
white light.

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 4. Why is the Spectrum of CFL separated into narrow bands and why do we
perceive this as white light?

CFL uses a phosphorus coating inside the tube to produce light. The
phosphorus emits light at specific wavelengths, resulting in narrow bands of
color. When these bands are combined, our eyes see them as white light
because they cover a broad range of the visible spectrum, blending red,
green, yellow, and blue colors.

5. Which one of the light sources has the greatest energy efficiency? Why?

LED bulbs have the greatest energy efficiency because they produce light
with minimal heat waste and convert a higher percentage of electrical energy
into visible light compared to others.

Images:

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LAB MARK QUESTIONS DATA/CALCULATIONS TOTAL MARK

10 10 5 20

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