Joule heating is the process by which the passage of an electric current through a conductor produces heat.
A coiled heating element from an electric toaster, showing red to yellow incandescence
An incandescent light bulb's filament emitting light
Electric radiative space heater
Electric tabletop hotplate
James Prescott Joule was an English physicist. Joule studied the nature of heat and discovered its relationship to mechanical work. This led to the law of conservation of energy, which in turn led to
An electric motor presented to Kelvin by James Joule in 1842. Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.
Joule's Heat Apparatus, 1845