The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-06-11
AN ELECTRIC CURRENT.
IN IT'S NATURE SIMILAR TO A
CURRENT OF WATER.
A Simple Explanation which should
Interest All Laymen-rhe Great
Discoveries OF Professor
Alexander VOLTA.


playing hose in their garden. ever
realize that the laws controlling the
flow OF water have great similarity
to those governing the subtler fluid
electricity; and whether they turn on
faucet or an electric light certain con-
ditions exist and certain actions fol-
low which are analogous.
The water In the faucer Is under a
certain pressure and an amount Of
water flows out OF the faucet depend
enJ upon this pressure and upon the
size OF the faucet.
An electric current in a wire Is un-
der a certain pressure and an amount
OF current flows though the wire de.
pendent upon the pressure and upon
the size Of the wire.
In a garden hose. water under
good pressure. says the New York
World. II allowed to escape through
small nozzle. will be forced a con-
siderable distance In an incandescent
lamp. current under fair pressure Is
allowed to escape through the mimi to
filament of the lamp heats the fla
ment TO incandescence, and throws
out beams of light. Not that electri-
city is fluid In the sense that water
is or that there Is any actual transfer
ence OF matter when current passes
through n wire as there Is when water
flows through pipe; but there Is a
close analogy between the laws gov
erning the two. and 1t Is just as easy
and as simple to predict the actions
OF one within a certain range OF con-
ditions as 1t Is OF the other.
Alexander Volta was a professor
OF physics in Pavia who accomplished
great deal in scientific way; con-
sequently electricians not only erected
marble tablet to his memory. but
agreed to name the electrical pound
per square foot after him and so the
unit of electrical pressure is the volt
Similarly we are compelled to write
our electrical gallon with an accent
over the last syllable after Ampere.
Ohm has had his name used as the
unit of electrical resistance ever since
he gave to the world his celebrated
law on the flow OF current Ohm said
that the amount OF current going
through copper wire was proper
toned to the pressure under which
this current worked and to the size OF
the wire.
This Is not very different from
what anybody's common sense would
see was true OF water fl owing through
a hose. The amount of water is OF
course proportional to the pressure
undcr which 1t works and to the size
OF the hose. Ohm made great repu-
tation on this discovery. and since his
time other people have been finding
out that what is truo of water Is also
aralogously true Of electricity. Look
at an electric road! A wire carrying
current is stretched through the air
and all a man has to do to move a car
containing 100 people along a street
is to connect the car machinery with
the wire by pole. II the wire was
pipe carrying water under consid-
cradle pressure and this pipe could
be connected to the car by a movable
hose q water motor would make the
car move just as the electric
motor does, and moreover the
water would flow through the pipe and
the hose and the motor to the ground,
falling from a considerable pressure
tn zero pressure just as the current
flows through the wire and the trolley
arm and the motor to the ground fall
ing from 500 volts pressure to zero
pressure or potential as II may be called
which is the potential OF the earth
just as the zero potential OF water is
the sea level Moreover as certain
number OF gallons OF water will flow
through the pipe, the hose and the
motor dependent upon the size of the
pipe. the hose and the motor and the
pressure OF the water so will a cer-
tain number OF amperes OF current
flow through the trolley wire. the
trolley arm and the motor winding
dependent upon the size OF the wire
in them all and the electrical pressure
OF the current
A line OF electric arc lights are
made to burn by inserting them one
after the other in series in a line carry
ing current OF high pressure and
the passage OF the current through
each light uses up a certain percentage
OF this pressure just as q series of wa
ter wheels may be introduced in a
brook or river where each wheel
will similarly use up certa' n amount
OF the pressure OF running water
Incandescent lights are burned with
out affecting the pressure In two wires
run parallel to each other by connect
ing the two terminals Of each lamp to-
the wires and allowing the current to
pass through their own filaments just
as two water pipes running parallel to
each other may be punctured with
small holes wherever II Is desired to
have the currents o. water escape.
In neither case will the pressure be
diminished at any point except by an
inconsiderable amount due to friction.
though a large quantity Of water or
electric fluid will be used.
A mans body offers q resistance to
the passage OF an electric current do
pendent upon the muscular and nerve
flores OF the body. the thickness of his
skin and the conditions under which
the current enters and leaves his body.
This resistance depends therefore
upon three variable factors and there
in lies the uncertainty OF 'electrocu-