Energy and the Environment, Segment 2: Two Ways to Make Light - a podcast by PSD Channel 10 and Little Shop of Physics

Let's start with our questions from Evan and Erin: how do we make an energy efficient bulb like an LED? The answer is that there are two ways to make light: by heating an object, or by exciting atoms with electricity. Basic light bulbs (i.e. incandescents) use heat, which is not very efficient since we really only want the light. LEDs are more efficient because they use electricity to excite atoms -- they don't waste energy on heat!

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