Why does a 25 watt light bulb shine brighter than a 100 watt light bulb?

Question

i dont know how to put a comment saying thank you, so il do it here. thank you so much :) but i think this was what i was looking for http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080227014234AACIHx6

i probably phrased the question wrongly, thanks anyway!

Answer 1

If it's a 25 watt fluorescent bulb and a 100 watt incandescent, the fluorescent bulb is more efficient.

Answer 2

Maybe you can not see "0" at the end of 25, so that's 250 watt

Answer 3

Correct me if I'm wrong...

In a series connection, the 25 watt bulb shines brighter because both receive less power (Power=Electric Current x Voltage). The total resistance in a series connection is great, meaning they will only receive less electric current.. Remember ohm's law Voltage=Electric Current x Resistance.

Meanwhile, if both bulbs are in a parallel connection, the total resistance is less, meaning more electric current, meaning more power. With this high power, the 100 watt bulb can reach its full brightness that can exceed the brightness of the 25 watt bulb.

Answer 4

It shouldn't if it's exactly the same type of light.  If they're different.. then... it's a different story.

Light bulb wattages are rated as how much electricity they CONSUME, not how much light they give off or how bright they are.

All lights have certain levels of efficiency, meaning how much of the electricity they use is actually converted to LIGHT, instead of other wasted energy (like heat and sound).

A highly efficient 25 watt light may actually give off a lot of light, and only very little heat and sound (like fluorescent lights); whereas some 100 watt lights that are very inefficient, will actually give off very little light, but give off lots of heat (like incandescent lights).

Ofcourse, if the lights are of the exact same type, the the higher the wattage, the brighter it should glow.

Answer 5

Watts are a very bad unit to use for the brightness of a bulb. They only indicate the power used. The lumen is the unit you should concern yourself with.

Answer 6

it may just be that the 100watt bulb is of the frosted glass type and the other is of the clear glass type.

Go see and let me know if i was right.

You should come back to me and say "oh yeh, i didn't notice that".

Answer 7

They must be rated for different voltages.  A 100 watt bulb will throw more than four times the light of a 25 watt bulb if both are operated at rated voltage.  (See the lumen ratings on the packages.)

Answer 8

It is not possible if both the bulbs are connected to the same supply voltage. May be you have to interchange 25 and 100 in your question. Please clarify .