WHERE Challenge: The Light Bulb

By Michael Tu

1. WHAT resources are used to make an incandescent light bulb?

2. WHERE on Earth do these resources come from?

Presentation Outcomes

WHAT resources are used to make the bulb and WHERE are they found?

The Bulb

Silica (SiO2)

-Found as sand or quartz in nature

-Found throughout the world

Silica Sand

Quartz

Trona (Hydrated Sodium

Bicarbonate Carbonate)

-Mainly found in the United States, Botswana, Kenya, and Namibia

Trona

Calcium Oxide (CaO)

-Made from the thermal decomposition of materials like limestone

-Mainly found in the US, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, and many more…

Limestone

Coal and salt are also used to make the bulb and they are found throughout the world…

The Filament

Tungsten

-Found in the minerals scheelite and wolframite

-These minerals are mainly found in China, Canada, Russia, Austria, Bolivia, and Portugal

Scheelite

Wolframite

WHAT resources are used to make the filament and WHERE are they found?

The Base

WHAT resources are used to make the base and WHERE are they found?

or

Brass

-Copper and Zinc

-Copper is mainly found in the US, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, Russia, Peru, and Indonesia

-Zinc is mainly found in the US, Canada, Australia, Peru

Copper

Zinc

Aluminum (Al)

-Found in bauxite

-Bauxite is mainly found in Australia, Brazil, Guinea, and Jamaica

Bauxite

Other Parts

An incandescent light bulb has many other parts and many resources are used to make those parts… These minerals are not only used to make light bulbs, but tons of other products as well, like computers, TVs… These minerals are what we use everyday and we must conserve them in order to meet the needs of the

next generation!

1. The image of silica sand found on slide 3 is from Wikipedia Commons, please go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ for more details.

2. The image of quartz found on slide 3 is a work of the United States Department of Agriculture employee, taken or made during the course of the person’s official duties.

3. The image of trona found on slide 3 is a work of the US federal government.

4. The image of limestone found on slide 3 is a work of the Mineral Information Institute.

5. The image of scheelite found on slide 4 is a work of the "Minerals in Your World" project, a cooperative effort between the United States Geological Survey and the Mineral Information Institute.

6. The image of wolframite found on slide 4 is a work of the Mineral Information Institute.

7. The image of copper found on slide 5 is a work of the Mineral Information Institute.

8. The image of zinc found on slide 5 is a work of the Mineral Information Institute.

9. The image of bauxite found on slide 5 is a work of the Mineral Information Institute.

Sources