Fourth Grade Physics
One of the most beneficial phenomena that was put to practical use by physicists is the phenomenon of electricity or the electric current. It was considered a phenomenon because prior to intensive research and study, it was something that seemed to spring out of nature in unexpected places (lightning, between fingers and doorknobs, frogs legs, etc.) Many studies in physics are connected to the topic of electricity. This may be because electricity is one of the most commonly used types of energy in the world today. Prior to its being so popularized, though, it was largely due to curiosity that scientists were trying to figure it out and they didn’t immediately look to it as a form of energy or power with practical uses.
Michael Faraday's Electromagnetic Induction
One of the greatest contributors to the study of electricity was a physicist named Michael Faraday. Though his earlier work involved contributions to chemistry, Faraday switched his research to physics when he heard that two scientists, Hans Christian Oersted and Andre Marie Ampere were able to generate a magnetic field through an electric current. Faraday became fascinated with this finding and began studying it himself. Following a concept similar to Joule's law of conservation of energy, Faraday thought that if an electric current could generate a magnetic field, then a magnetic field should be able to generate an electric current.
To test his hypothesis, Faraday sought to generate electricity in a wire through electromagnetic means, particularly by the electromagnetic effect of the electric current in a separate wire. In this experiment he created the induction ring which was the first electric transformer. Furthering his studies, Faraday attempted to provide a continuous stream of electricity. By attaching two wires to a copper disc and rotating the disc between the two poles of a horseshoe magnet, he was able to get a steady direct current of electricity. This device was the first generator known to man.
Michael Faraday went on to invent the first modern electric motor. He also proved that the electricity from his magnets, in Volta's battery, and the static electricity noticed by many are all the same. He also pioneered the study of electrochemistry. All his discoveries and inventions paved the way for turning electricity into a powerful technology, much like how we know electricity to be today.
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