Violle's Candle
Violle’s Candle
an obsolete unit of the magnitude of light, equal to the strength of light radiated by one cm2 of surface of solidified platinum in the direction normal for that surface. In 1881, Violle’s candle, as formulated by the French physicist L. J. Violle (1841-1923), was accepted as the unit of the strength of light. However, because of low stability it was replaced by Hefner’s candle in 1893. The present unit of the strength of light, the candle, is equivalent to approximately 1/20 of Violle’s candle.
V. S. KHAZANOV