From: jmorris (jmorris@morriseditions.com)
Date: 01/14/03-03:01:04 PM Z
on 1/14/03 3:26 PM, Judy Seigel at jseigel@panix.com wrote:
>
> What happens when you block off a portion of a light bulb to prevent the
> light from going in a particular direction? I figure someone on this list
> will know... the question came up in another context, the issue being, is
> electricity wasted, or does ALL the light just get pushed in the other
> directions?
>
> And would all bulbs act the same way? Sodium vapor, halide, other?
>
> thanks in advance for any enlightenment....
>
> J.
The light would be absorbed and/or reflected by the surface used to block
it. If the surface is light and reflective much of the visible light would
bounce off the surface and travel in another direction; if the surface is
dark and non-reflective the light would be mostly absorbed by the surface
and dissipate as heat.
I would imagine that different surfaces would vary as to which wavelengths
would be absorbed or reflected so there could be differences among bulbs
that output different peak wavelengths.
Jim Morris
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