How a Motion Lamp Works
-
Traditional Motion Lamps
-
The traditional motion lamp has a picture drawn on to the lampshade. This picture is usually a landscape with rolling waves, a fire or even a cowboy riding a horse. A light bulb in the center of the lamp supplies energy in the form of heat to a cylinder. The cylinder begins turning as soon as the bulb gets hot enough. This internal cylinder moves the external lampshade, which is itself a cylinder. The materials used to make a motion lamp vary widely, ranging from cast iron to glass. The paper around the cylinder lampshade is glued on to a glass cylinder.
Liquid Motion Lamps
-
Motion lamps containing fluids, such as a lava lamp, work as a result of the principle of immiscibility, and because the fluids are mutually insoluble. The fluids occupying the same space within a lava motion lamp will not mix or dissolve one another. Rather, the fluids will float around one another, often with one fluid rising atop the other. To create your own motion lamp, fill a tall glass container with grade 90 percent rubbing alcohol. Add grade 70 rubbing alcohol to the glass container. Fill the glass container about three quarters of the way. Add a few tbsp. of mineral oil to the glass container. Pour some marker ink in to the mix. Find a coffee can that closely matches the circumference of the glass container. Cut a hole in the side of the can with some metal scissors. The hole must be big enough to permit a bulb socket to fit in through the side of the can. After placing the bulb socket into the can, screw a 30-watt bulb (or one that's no more than 40 watts) into the bulb socket. Plug one end of an extension cord into the bulb socket and the other end into a wall socket. Place the glass container on top of the open end of the coffee can. The heat causes the mineral oil to form spheres and creates motion in the lamp.
-
Motion Detecting Lamps
-
Motion detector light systems are motion lamps that respond to movement within a fixed proximity to the sensor. The sensor is an infrared light that operates continuously when it is dark outside. When something or someone passes through the infrared beam, a sensor sends a signal to the light switch. The motion light turns on in response to this electric signal. Motion detector lamps typically sense movement at distances up to 90 feet away. The power source for a motion lamp is either an electrical outlet (drill a hole through the wall of the garage, and run the cable out from the electrical outlet inside of the garage to the lamp on the outside of the garage), or the sun (purchase a solar power motion detector lamp from the hardware store, and then mount the entire unit outside on your roof or the side of the home).
-
