The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-23

Doayes common sense would see was tru'
of water flowing through a hose. Thu
amount OF water is of course proportional
to the pressure unde which it works ant
to the size of the hose. Ohm made a grea,
reputation on this discovery, and since his
that what is true af water il
also analagously 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 cal
containing 100 people along a street is tic
CONNECT the car machinery with the wire by
n pole. It the wire was a pipe carrying
water under a considerable pressure and
thie pipe could be connected to the car by
a movable hose a water motor would make
the car movo just as the electric mo-
tor does, and moreover the water
would flow through tho pipe and
the hose and the motor to the ground, fail
pressure, just as the current flows through
the wire and tho trolley arm and the motor
to the ground, falling from 500 volts pres
sure to zero pressure, or potential, rs it
may be called, which is the potential Of
the earth. just as the zero potential Of
water is the sea level. Moreover, as a Ger
tain number Of gallons Of water will flow
through the pipe, the hose and the motor.
dependent upon the size of tbs pipe, the
hose and the motor and the pressure of the
water, SO will a certain number of ampsres
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
Icurrent.
A line of electric arc lights are made
to burn by inserting them one after the
other in series in a line current of a high
pressure, and the passage of the current
through each light uses up q certain per-
centage Of this pressure just rs q series of
water wheels may be introduced in a brook
or river where each wheel will similarly use
up n certain amount of tho pressure Of the
running water.
lncandescent lights are burned without
affecting the pressure in two wires run par
allel to each other, by connecting the two
terminals Of each lamp to the wires and
allowing tho current to pass through their
tlaments just as two water pipes running
parallel to each other may be punctured
with small holes wherever it is desired to
have the currents of water escape. In
neither case will the pressure be diminished
at any point. except by HI uncomfortable
quantity of water or electric fluid will DO
used.
A mans body offers q resistance to the
passage of an electric current dependent
upon the muscular and nerve fibers Of the
body, the thickness of his akin ana the oon-
ultlOns under Whlcn the current enters and
leaves his body. The resistance depends,
therefore, upon three variable factors, and
therein lies the uncertainty of ''electrocu-
ton" A mans ability to withstand the
effects of u waterfall depends similarly
upon the strength OF the man and the point
of application of the waters force. Hele
are two variable facts which can be disre-
Rarded rs long IA we have Niagara falls.
This would seem to be an argument in
favor Of uhvdrorution.p
All electric current phenomena hnvo their
exact parallel in the flow of water. and for
the ready explanation Of the one it is only
to understand the other. Every
body understands their water %fauceff,
they may not understand their
So should people understand tho
common uses Of The mysterious current,
they do not understand the useless
perplexing teohnicnlities Of expert
electricians.