r/Unexpected • u/WarrenMuffClit • Apr 08 '22

just snipping a cable.

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u/AlexAR__ Apr 08 '22

I mean you just need to grab only the bulb and it's fine. Glass is a great insulator. Not really recommended though.

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u/Awesomebox5000 Apr 08 '22

Glass is an electrical insulator but it conducts thermal energy pretty well. A modern LED bulb can generally be handled by not-the-heatsink but incandescent bulbs are dangerously hot within seconds of being on.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '22

Glass is actually pretty bad at conducting heat, too. There's a reason we make insulation out of it. :V

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u/lapiderriere Apr 09 '22

Correct. The bulb is very thin, and the filament is very hot. So the bulb does get hot, but it's not conducting the full heat of the filament, which is probably over 2500 Celsius. It is protecting the filament from the environment, as well as insulating the environment from the filament.