Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain. Today's question, how
Speaker 1: does a three way light bulb work? The answer is
Speaker 1: pretty easy. A three way bulb has two filaments inside
Speaker 1: of it. The next time one burns out, carefully open it,
Speaker 1: for example, wrap it in a towel and hit it
Speaker 1: lately with a hammer, and you'll see the two separate
Speaker 1: filaments inside the bulb. For the lowest setting, one filament
Speaker 1: comes on, it might be a fifty watt filament. For
Speaker 1: the next setting, the second filament comes on, it might
Speaker 1: be a hundred watt filament. For the third setting, both
Speaker 1: come on for a total of a hundred and fifty watts.
Speaker 1: Look at the end of the bulb's base you'll be
Speaker 1: able to see how the lamp switch controls the two filaments. Today,
Speaker 1: there are now three way fluorescent bulbs. In one design
Speaker 1: from ge there are two different tubes. Either one or
Speaker 1: both fluorescent tubes can be lit to create the same effect.
Speaker 1: Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast?
Speaker 1: If so, please send me an email at podcast at
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more on this and
Speaker 1: thousands of other topics go to how stuff works dot com.
Speaker 1: H