I have followed the discussion on this topic with considerable interest.
To paraphrase, one camp says that a light bulb is a non-ohmic device
whereas the other camp says that like other metals tungsten is ohmic. In
between are a number of opinions, one of which is that the ohmicity of a
filament decreases as the amount of radiation it emits increases. Relevant
comparisons of Ohm's law with Boyle's law and Hooke's law have been made.
It seems to me that the ohmicity (V-I characteristics) of a device such as
a light bulb depends to a great degree upon its setting (environment).
And, when someone says that a light bulb is non-ohmic they implicitly mean
that it's V-I characteristics are nonlinear when used a typical setting.
Gene
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Eugene (Gene) P. Mosca Phone 410-293-6659 Office
Physics Department 410-267-0144 Home
572 Holloway Road 610-683-3597 Summer
U.S.Naval Academy Mailstop 9C, Michelson Rm 339
Annapolis MD 21402 email: mosca@nadn.navy.mil
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