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ELECTRICITY
By
A. K. Chakraborty
and
S. C. Bhattacharya
'The Story of Electricity' won the first prize in
the non-fiction category in the Competition for
Writers of Children's Books held in 1983 by the
Children's Book Trust.
It is jointly authored by Dr. A.K. Chakraborty,
who is a Reader of Applied Physics in Calcutta
University, and S.C. Bhattacharya, a former Wire-
less Operator in the Indian Air Force.
Printed 1985
Reprinted 1987, 1989
Wonders of electricity
and significant discoveries in the history of scientific of attraction, he devised an instrument called the
learning, that it would lay the foundation for the study 'electroscope'. It was a very simple apparatus, with a
of electricity. dry piece of straw hung in front. Dr. Gilbert would rub
different objects with fur or linen, hold them one after
another before this straw and carefully note down the
extent each attracted the straw. He could not ascertain
why and how an object acquired the power of attraction
by friction. But the results of his researches paved the
Centuries passed by and though many philosophers way to many scientific discoveries.
after Thales pondered over this subject of magnetism, When Dr. Gilbert wrote his book, he did not
no significant discovery relating to magnetism was imagine that he would raise a controversy that would
made till the time of Sir William Gilbert (1544-1603), last over generations to come. Nor that he would one
personal physician of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1600 A.D. day be hailed as the father of the science of electricity.
he published 'De Magnete' (about Magnets), in which Gradually Dr. Gilbert''S book came to be known to
he recorded the results of his experiments of 17 years most European scientists. To many of them the theories
and his theories about magnetism. propounded by the ancient Greek philosophers and
Dr. Gilbert had heard of Magnus and Thales when scientists were the last word and they were unwilling to
he was young and was so impressed by their discoveries accept new ideas. Yet some were fascinated by the
that he decided to do his own research on the subject. author's scientific vision. A few even began their
He found that not only amber but also such things as researches along Dr. Gilbert's line, but no significant
sulphur, glass and wax became magnetic by friction and advancement was made in this field during the next
attracted other materials. He also noticed that there 60 years.
were many things which, when rubbed, would not
acquire any magnetic property. It was he who first
observed the characteristic difference between the
natural magnetic property of loadstone and the induced
magnetism of amber. Dr. Gilbert gave the magnetic
property of amber the name of 'electricity'. In Greek The man who, after Dr. Gilbert, made notable
amber is called 'elektron'. discoveries about electricity was Otto von Guericke
(1602-86). He was the Mayor of Magdeburg, a city in The day von Gucricke announced that he had
Germany. He was a very able administrator, but in devised an instrument to create a vacuum, they had no
spite of his mayoral responsibilities, he found time for doubt that their Mayor's mental derangement was
scientific research. complete. Could any sound mind conceive such an
The people of Magdeburg looked upon their Mayor absurd idea? Was it possible to suck away air from a
with suspicion. They believed that von Guericke was vessel? Aristotle, the great savant, had said, "Nature
devoted to witchcraft and was in league with the devil. abhors a vacuum." Was Guericke, then, refuting Aris-
On seeing him in the street, many city dwellers would totle? Who but a mad man could have such audacity?
hasten to keep themselves at a safe distance from their Guericke was indifferent to what the people said
burgomaster. Some of them considered him insane. about him, but he became the topic of discussion here,
there and everywhere in the country. Rumours spread
and at last reached the ears of His Imperial Highness
Ferdinand III. The post of mayor was important and
the person in the mayoral chair should command the
respect of all citizens. The Emperor decided to visit
Magdeburg to check whether Guericke was as mad as
rumour made him out to be. In a letter to the Mayor
announcing his visit, he wrote, "I hear you have invent-
ed the art of creating a vacuum. And I hope you will
prove the justness of your claim."
On receiving such a message from the Emperor, von
Guericke was naturally worried. But within two weeks
he made all the necessary arrangements to receive the
Emperor. And the day Ferdinand arrived, the city of
Magdeburg was steeped in colour, with the streets gaily
decorated and houses and walls freshly painted. The
city dweJIers, clad in their best clothes, lined the streets
to receive their royal guest.
A reception was held at the City Hall. All the elite
of the city were invited and there was food and drink
in abundance. The feast over, von Guericke stood up
and, without any introduction, said, "Presently I shall
demonstrate to you the operation of my new air pump.
I shall suck out all the air from a hollow spherical
vessel and create a vacuum."
The City Hall resounded with laughter. The
Emperor looked at Guericke in some doubt. One of his
companions asked, "Won't there be any device to peep for we cannot see everything with our naked eyes. Man
into the sphere to see the vacuum?" Once more there can see more with the light of intellect and reason than
was loud laughter. Even the Emperor could not help with his physical organ of sight."
laughing. He went on to explain. "When the sphere was filled
Von Guericke remained calm. He said, "Not far with air, the internal pressure within the vessel and the
from here is a large open ground. There I will hold my external pressure of the atmosphere remained equal and
demonstration. Let us all go there." they annulled each other. That is why it was easy
The Emperor rode to the appointed place with enough to pull the two halves of the sphere apart. Now,
the Mayor. The others followed them in procession. there being no air within the vessel, the tremendous
On reaching the lawn the city dwellers assembled by pressure exerted by the atmosphere will hold the two
the Emperor's side. halves together so tightly that it will not be quite easy
The Mayor then began his demonstration. He held to separate them."
up two copper hemispheres, each fitted with a metal Then he picked up the vessel by a ring and began to
ring, and showed that, by setting the two halves face to shake it. All the spectators expected to see the two
face, they would form a sphere. He repeatedly put the halves go apart. They stuck firmly to each other. Then
two hemispheres together to form a sphere and pulled von Guericke turned to the Emperor and said, "Your
them apart to show how easily it could be done. Then Majesty, I would like to see if you can pull the two
he brought his air pump, a metallic cylinder with a hemispheres apart."
spout on one side and a big handle on the other. Ferdinand rose from his seat and von Guericke
He again pressed the two halves of the copper handed the vessel to him. The Emperor held it firmly in
sphere together, connected the spout of the air pump to his hands and tugged mightily at the two rings but to no
a valve attached to one half, and declared, "Now I shall effect. Ferdinand was a strong man. And when he
suck out all the air from this round vessel." could not pull the vessel apart, the spectators were
The spectators watched silently as von Guericke astonished.
began moving the pump handle up and down. Within a More wonders awaited them. Von Guericke made a
short time the movement of the handle slowed down. sign. At once, four powerful horses were brought
One could see that the Mayor had to use considerable before him. Two horses were harnessed to each of the
force to operate it. When the handle refused to move, two rings of the spherical vessel and, under the lash of
von Guericke stopped. He was bathed in sweat. whips, they tugged at the vessel from either side. But it
Wiping his forehead, he looked at the Emperor and did not split apart. Von Guericke made another sign
said, "Your Majesty, J have sucked out all the air. A and four more horses were brought. This time eight
vacuum has been created within this sphere." horses, four on either side, were engaged in this tug-of-
Then, turning to the spectators, he said with a war, but the two halves of the sphere held together. At
pleasant smile, "One of our guests here wanted to know last 16 horses, eight on each side, were harnessed to the
if he could peep into it. He would see very little there, rings. This time the vessel split with a bang.
Emperor Ferdinand was highly impressed. He was
with an electrified sulphur ball acquired the property of
convinced of von Guericke s genius. The Emperor
9
22
used it to give themselves or others electric shocks. of electricity he produced and lightning~ he wrote a
It is said that a French priest~ Christophe Claire~ thesis entitled~ 'The similarity between lightning and
found it useful to demonstrate to some sceptical factory electricity'. In this he expressed the view that by means
workers his power to inspire divine feeling in others. of a suitable conductor the electricity of lightning
On a Sunday evening~just after prayer, sixteen of them could perhaps be brought down to earth. When his
assembled~ as they were asked to, in the courtyard in papers were read at the Royal Society meeting, the
front of the church. members present laughed.
Claire appeared carrying a box wrapped in red cloth To give a fitting reply to this ridicule~ Franklin
and two crosses dangling from it. The priest asked the resolved to prove the truth of his theory by an experi-
men to stand~ hand in hand, in a circle. He then ment. He made a big kite and on a cloudy day, he flew
approached them and asked two of the men to hold the it high in the sky. He tied a key to the cord of the kite
two crosses. The moment the two men touched them and held the key with silk lace over it to prevent elec-
all sixteen sprang up and were scattered about the tricity flowing through the cord from passing through
courtyard. his body. Now~ as he brought one end of another
Whether the feeling this inspired was divine is not conducting wire quite close to the key~ a bright spark
known, but there was nothing divine in the power that occurred. Thereafter, by connecting the key to a Leyden
made the sixteen bedridden for days. Claire had con- Jar, he was able to store in it a good amount of elec-
cealed within his box a small portable generator and a tricity. The experiment was dangerous and Franklin
Leyden Jar and just before approaching the workers was lucky to escape electrocution.
had turned the handle of the generator. The two crosses On the basis of this discovery, lightning arresters or
were connected to the two electrodes of the jar and, conductors were devised to protect building from
when the two men touched the crosses, a powerful thunderbolts. The lightning conductor is a metallic rod,
electric current began to flow through the human chain~ with a number of sharp points~ put on the roof of
making them bounce. buildings. The lower end of the rod is connected by
iron or copper wire to the earth. If there is a flash of
lightning~ it can cause little or no damage to the
building because the electrical discharge is drained
away to- the earth through the lightning conductor.
Another significant contribution Franklin made is
Benjamin Franklin has made important contri- his theory about the nature of electricity in material
butions to the science of electricity. He was a versatile objects. Before Franklin, an apothecary named William
man, literary artist, politician, social worker and Watson had expressed the view that every object con-
scientist, all in one. In 1746 one Dr. Spence had shown tained two kinds of electricity. Franklin studied the
him a few experiments in static electricity and Franklin im-!,lication of this and explained the reason why an
grew interested in the subject. He repeated these experi- object became electrified by friction. He said that every
ments and, observing the similarity between the sparks substance in its natural state contained equal quantities
of vitreous (of glass) electricity and resinous (of resin)
electricity. Matter being composed of two converse
electrical charges of equal amount, an object, in its
normal state, did not manifest any electric property. It
was only at the time of friction that the objects respond-
ed electrically to each other and became electrically
charged. Because glass electricity and resin electricity
neutralised each other's action, Franklin called the
former positive and the latter negative electricity.
It should be mentioned that these two kinds of
electricity are equally elemental. It is not that positive
electricity is richer in any special property than negative
electricity. Nor is it that negative electricity is deficient
in any particular property. It is only for convenience
that an international convention has been established
to call glass electricity 'positive' and resin electricity
'negative'.
54
before. Annoyed with the rudeness of his new master,
he decided to give up book-binding. But he had to find
another job.
Suddenly he remembered Humphrey Davy. But
what would an eminent scientist like Davy have to do
with a poor book-binder like him? After ruminating
for some days, he decided to try his luck.
He wrote to Davy. With his letter he sent the bound
volume of the notes and comments he had made on the
four lectures he had attended. Days, weeks and months
passed, but there was no response from Davy. Faraday
was disappointed. 'Why should a great scientist like
Davy bother about a letter written by a poor young
man like me?' he asked himself.
On December, 1812, on Christmas Eve, a coach
came and stood before Faraday's place of work. A man
alighted and enquired about Michael Faraday. When
Faraday came out, the man handed him a letter. With
trembling hands, he opened the envelope and read the
letter. .
It was more a note than a letter. But, what a wealth
of j oy it brought to his sad and weary heart! It was
from Davy and it said: "The proof you have given me
of your self-confidence and your tenacity of purpose
has made me glad. This testifies to your zealous interest,
your fine memory and your great attentiveness. I am
going out of London for some days and I shall not be
able to come back and settle down here before the end
of January. Any time thereafter, I shall be eager to
meet you. It shall give me immense pleasure to be of
any help to you. I wish it would be within my power."
Towards the end of January, soon after his return
Mter Faraday's apprenticeship was over, he found to London, Davy sent word to Faraday, asking him to
a job as book-binder. But his new master was not as come and see him at the Royal Institution. Faraday
kind and sympathetic as Ribean. Faraday found that met him, but Davy gave him no promise.
he had neither the time nor the opportunity to study as Faraday was again in despair. Was he destined to
remain a book-binder all his life? But about a month immeasurable significance. Based on this principle
later, he received another letter from Davy saying ~at electric generators capable of producing immense
Faraday could, if he wished, join the Royal Institution electric power came to be made.
as an assistant. Faraday joyously accepted the offer. Sir Robert Peel was Prime Minister of Britain at
Davy had made many significant contributions to that time. Faraday had occasion to explain to Peel the
the science of electricity. But his best contribution was, principle underlying his electrical theory. He gave a
perhaps, the opportunity he gave to Faraday to work demonstration as well. He connected a galvanometer
at the Royal Institution. Davy himself was aware of to a coil of wire and showed that, if a bar magnet was
this. Once a journalist asked him, "What, in your swung rQund the coil, the needle of the galvanometer
own opinion, is your greatest discovery?" also swung in response to the movement of the magnet.
"It is Michael Faraday," was the prompt reply. But that made no impression on PeeL He commented
Faraday had to perform many jobs apart from his in a disparaging tone, "I have just seen that a needle
routine duties. He had to keep the laboratory instru- moves when a magnet is moved about. But what useful
ments clean and be at the beck and call of his superiors. purpose will this discovery of yours serve our country?"
But he was happy to have the opportunity to work in In reply Faraday only said, "No one can foretell
an environment of his choice. Now he could devote what a newborn baby will grow up to be. Even so, my
much time to his studies and experiments. discovery may, some day, accomplish the impossible.
The subject of electromagnetism excited his special It may be that, by making practical use of my inven-
interest after he learnt about the work and achieve- tion, your government will, in the near future, realize
ments of Oersted and Ampere. He repeated, in his own a large amount of money by way of taxes from the
way, the experiments of the two great scientists and people of this country."
made other experiments to test his own ideas. It was not long before Faraday's prophecy came to
Davy was greatly impressed by Faraday's devotion be fulfilled. The generators or dynamos by which
and ir genuity. He began to guide Faraday in research. electrical energy is produced nowadays work on
As days passed by, Faraday's reputation grew. From Faraday's principle of electromagnetic induction. Apart
the post of laboratory assistant, he was raised to from this theory, he made several other significant
membership of the institution. Mter Davy's death in contributions, especially his principles of electrolysis.
1829, Faraday continued his researches and experi- In the history of electrical science, 1831 is a signi-
ments independently. ficant year. That was the year in which Faraday found
A particular idea began to haunt his mind. If the process of electromagnetic induction. The same
electricity could produce magnetism, why cannot year, Joseph Henry, a teacher of Albany Academy,
magnetism produce electricity? In 1831, in the course New York, made the same finding on his own. For
of an experiment, Faraday realized that he was not many years he had worked to improve the electro-
wrong in his assumption. He observed that an electric magnet. The electromagnet he built for the Yale
current was induced in a coil of wire placed within a College laboratory was so powerful that it could lift
fluctuating magnetic field. The discovery was of 1600 kilograms and that too by means of electric
current obtained solely from a voltaic battery!
There is difference of opinion about who first built
an electric generator or a dynamo. According to some
the credit goes to Faraday. Others say it should go to
Henry.
In modern times a huge amount of electric power is
being used to operate various machines, to drive elec-
tric trains and trams, to light houses and streets.
Modern power houses are equipped with enormous
generators driven by turbines which are rotated by the
pressure of steam or water.
Steam turbines are now being used to drive thermo-
electric generators, while, in the hydro-electric centres,
the armatures of the generators are rotated by water
turbines.
In steam turbines, coal is burnt to heat water in a
boiler and turn it into steam. The steam is directed by
jets against blades of the turbine. The pressure exerted
by the steam, kinetic pressure as it is called, sets the
turbine in motion.
In the thermo-electric system, only a portion of the
total mechanical energy applied to the turbine of the
generator is converted into electrical energy. In a
hydro-electric generator, it is the pressure of water that
rotates the turbine.