Want to know what LED lighting is in a nutshell? It’s a topic that our team here at Language of Lighting is always happy to explain. And when we’re not geeking out at the chance to explain LED lighting, we’re geeking out on other cool things like the Walking Dead series. So, here’s how we explain LED through a series of Walking Dead GIFS, because why not combine two loves?
LED stands for Light-Emitting Diode, which may or may not sound like an alien super-weapon designed to destroy the earth by means of laser beams. It’s not though.
In the simplest terms, a Diode is a one-way valve for electricity. What that means that a diode only permits a current to flow in one direction.
What decides that direction you ask? Allow me to explain.
A diode is made up of an anode (positive wire) and cathode (negative wire).
The Walking Dead equivalent is Rick vs. Negan, if that helps.
LEDs work on Electroluminescence, which is the ability for some materials to emit light when an electric material goes through them.
The most important factors of LED are Polarity, Forward Voltage and Max Current.
Right now you’re probably like:
Bare with me, it’s all going to make sense soon.
First, we are going to examine Polarity.
The semi-conductor crystal lies between the anode and cathode. The current will need to flow into the anode and out of the cathode. Distinguishing the two is very simple. The anode will have a longer wire and the cathode will have a shorter wire. So basically all you need to know about polarity is which side is negative and which is positive to connect appropriately.
If you don’t, the LED won’t turn on because the current will not flow.
Now lets talk about Forward Voltage. All LEDs need a certain voltage in the correct direction so that the current can flow and emit light.
The color of the LED will depend on the voltage.
I made a little chart here so that it would make more sense, basically you just have to follow the voltage settings listed above and you will then be able to emit the color light you want.
Lastly we are going to explore the Maximum Current Limit of LEDs. When it comes to current limits, you want to cap the amount of current to a safe and reasonable number. If you were to remove all current limits, your light would blow itself up.
If an LED explodes in your face, you could end up looking like this:
We sincerely do not want that.
Now in order to monitor things like voltage, you usually will want to get your hands on a Power Supply. However if you’re not able to afford a fancy one then you just need some knowledge of Resistance.
Now this isn’t the same kind of resistance needed to fight Negan and his crew, what I’m referring to is a bit more technical.
You can purchase resistors online for under a dollar. The topic of resistance is a tad more more complicated so just like the most recent & wondrous season finale we all experienced, we are going to leave that on a cliffhanger for a later date.
But in the meantime, you can take all of this new lovely knowledge about LEDs and go check out some LED Linear Suspension Lights!
