How electricity was discovered in the world?
Although it can sometimes be difficult to remember
how far mankind has come over the past few centuries, one thing we’ve
consistently been able to count on since the beginning of recorded time is
electricity. Today, it powers nearly everything in our lives and has become
such an integral part of modern living that we often take it for granted.
However, before 1820, electricity was little more than a curiosity or, at best,
an interesting phenomenon used to display God’s hand in His creation.
Electricity: The Essence of Life
Electricity is something that we have become so
accustomed to that its presence becomes an inherent part of our everyday lives.
We get up, turn on a lamp and start another day. But do we ever stop and think
about what it is exactly? Electricity is basically a flow of electrons; these
are subatomic particles that whiz through everything including our bodies
without us knowing it. The world would be nothing without electricity, but not
just because it helps us wake up in the morning - it holds much more than meets
our eyes. Electrical energy powers almost all aspects of modern living; from
home appliances like air-conditioners and washing machines to industries that
rely entirely upon electrical power such as nuclear plants, computers, and
hospitals.
Even though
we have become so accustomed to using electricity, there are still many things
that are unknown about it. For example, did you know that we do not know what
makes electrons move at such a great pace and flow continuously through wires?
I wonder how much our lives would change if we ever found out. Our whole
society is based upon electrical energy; imagine what would happen if there
were one day when it ran out or stopped flowing. Things that run on batteries
would also stop working and even your mobile phones will be rendered useless.
Benjamin Franklin - The Father of Electricity
He is thought of as America's most famous Founding
Father, but Benjamin Franklin has another title: The First American Scientist.
In addition to publishing Poor Richard's Almanack and inventing bifocals,
lightning rods, and swim fins, Franklin also started
one of America's first science journals: The Journal of Electricity. Today
we'll talk about what we now call static electricity and why it was so
important at a time when getting an electric shock from an uninsulated doorknob
could kill you.
He has a lot of wonderful quotes, but here's one I
like: Always wear shoes in a lightning storm. You may have been happy as a
result of taking my advice, only to be killed by not heeding it later. Benjamin
Franklin had a gift for turning scientific inquiry into humorous everyday
wisdom. That's certainly important when you're trying to explain an extremely
complicated scientific concept like static electricity.
Franklin's first published experiment with
electricity was, by his own admission, a failure. He'd heard rumors of a
technique used by European scientists that allowed them to produce static
charges. Franklin decided he wanted to do it himself, and set up equipment that
produced an electrical charge using a storm cloud (the same way lightning
works). It failed; he ended up producing only a small spark instead of a full
discharge.
Alessandro Volta - One Who Sparked An Explosion
There are a lot of people who can take credit for
discovering electricity, but few have shaped our current electrical landscape
more than Alessandro Volta. Back in 1800, Volta created what is known as a
voltaic pile, which became one of three major ways that scientists could
produce and measure electrical potential at different points. And while we now
know what electricity is - it's simply electrons moving through conductive
materials - back then, physicists had no idea why they were able to create an
electrical charge with certain compounds. It would take many more years and
investigations before real understanding set in...but thanks to Volta and his
work with voltaic piles, we're making strides toward an even brighter future
every day.
In addition
to his work with voltaic piles, Volta also invented one of our modern-day
symbols. The volt - named after Alessandro Volta - is a unit of electrical
potential used throughout our planet and can tell you whether a material will
be a conductor or an insulator (though for practical purposes you can use your
hands as conductors and insulators without any other instruments). You’ve
probably seen it represented as E/V, where E stands for electromotive force and
V stands for voltage. This is because each unit of potential created by
electrons moving through a conductor has its own numerical value based on its
potential. It’s not unlike water pressure, which helps determine how much force
you’re using when operating tools like fire hoses.
Joseph Henry - Electrifying Experiments
In 1829, a professor at Princeton University by the
name of Joseph Henry stumbled across an interesting and exciting phenomenon:
When he ran an electric current through a wire, it attracted pieces of paper.
Henry wondered whether running a current through two different wires placed
near each other would cause them to attract and repel each other like magnets
do. In order for that to happen, one would need some kind of invisible field
surrounding both wires. Henry thought that might be possible if charged
particles were passing between both wires at incredible speeds. We now know
these charged particles are electrons (they are named after Maxwell’s
equations). Therefore, they can't travel faster than light because nothing can
travel faster than light.
In order to
test his theory, Henry wrapped a wire with silk thread around a glass tube. He
placed both wires near each other and attached them to a battery. While
watching over his electrometer (which is essentially a device that can measure
electrical charge), he noticed that the wires were indeed attracting and repelling
each other—just like magnets do. He then realized that an invisible field was
passing between them through space at an extremely fast speed.
Michael Faraday - The Man behind Electricity Conservation
Michael Faraday is often referred to as one of the greatest
physicists and chemists of his time. He changed our way of thinking when it
came down to electricity. It all started with Michael Faraday playing around
with a bucket filled with water, some metal wire, and a candle. He wanted to
see what would happen if he took that bucket full of water and dipped it into a
pool or river full of moving water and then take that bucket back up out of the
water, without emptying it first. And you’ll never guess what happened; there
were sparks everywhere! Who knew simply placing your wire in flowing water
could produce such an effect? That’s when Michael understood that electrical
energy can be transferred through liquids as well as air.
Since Michael
Faraday first created his generator, we’ve made huge advances with electricity.
Today, generating a small amount of your own power at home is possible and easy
with solar cells, solar panels, and wind turbines. The only problem is; most of
these systems are so expensive that it just isn’t worth it for most people.
When you can pay only a few cents for 1 kWh (kilowatt hour) from your local
provider, why would you ever want to invest $500+ into something like solar
power? It just doesn’t make sense economically... but maybe it makes sense when
you look at things differently. You see; burning fossil fuels releases CO2 into
our atmosphere and all that CO2 contributes to global warming.