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It is not burning!

The filament of the bulb is heated to incandescence by the electric current flowing through the resistance of the wire of that filament. At this temperature it emits visible light.

If there were oxygen in the bulb, then the filament would burn... and burn out in a few seconds... and there would be no more light.

This elimination of oxygen (by removing the air with a vacuum pump) was one of the important steps Edison did to create a practical usable lightbulb (and also eventually led to the electronic vacuum tube). Later others replaced the air with inert gasses (e.g. nitrogen, argon) which made higher wattage brighter lightbulbs practical.

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Q: Why does an electric bulb burn even when there is no oxygen in the bulb?
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