The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1915-01-29
ELECTRICITY.
Why IL ls Difficult For the layman q
Understand What IL Is.

Understand What IL Is.
what is electricity" is a favor
ite query with people who desire to
get a rise" out of scientific man.
And when he fails to answer it in
the same simple fashion that he
might treat the question ''What is
a biscuit" the questioner cries out:
"Aha. You profess to know all
about electricity. Why, you can't
even tell what it is"
Now, to 'tell what a thing is"-
that is, to define its to state its
relations with something more ia
miliar. The particular familiar
thing that the questioner is think
ing Of in this case is ordinary mat
ter. Heat has been explained to
him as vibration of material par
tieles. Light, he has been told, is
q wave mo n in the ether, and he
understands tie ether to be kind
Of matter or a substance resem-
bling matter in some particulars.
1t Is not 10 be denied that no
such simple general relationship
can be stared be.ween electricity
and maj .e. But, this being so, It
would be jIst IS correct tc say that
we 90 not know what matter is as
that we do not know what electrici-
ty Is. As q matter of fact, we do
not know what matter is, and the
latest plausible theory of it builds
it up on an electric basis, SO that on
this theory the idea of electricity Is
more fundamental than that of
matter. Unfortunately our senses
have been evolved by contact with
matter and are trained to detect
only matter. Electricity they know
only secondarilv, through its action
upon matter-the light or heat that
it causes matter to give out, the at
traction that it causes certain sub
stances to exert, and so on. To the
man in the street, therefore, matter
is familiar, and he demands a state
ment Of the latter in terms of the
former, Illogical though this NAV
be. After the scientist has stated
ali this the reply comes back, eyes,
l understand all that, and it is
most clear, / am sure, but tell me,
then, what is electricity anyway"
Another source Of confusion to
the lay mind is that scientific men
do not always use the word "elec-
tficHy' to mean the same thing.
The engineer often employs it to
express the thing that the theoret-
ical electrician calls electric ener-
gy"
To find the energy of electricity
that is, its ability to do work.
the electrician multiplies the guam
tity OF electricity u the potential
or tension under V y.ich it exists.
But to the engineer this product
Itself neasures lie Ting that he
calls "eectr;c.tv."
The work that a nound of water
may do by falling i lot is one foot
pound. The water + tae same after
falling as before, though It's energy
is less. s. to lie electric,sn o
quantity OF electricity at 100 -olts
is precisely the same as ut one golt,
though the former is able to do a
times as much work.
This difference in meaning causes
thousands OF disputes among stu
dents. electricity is a form of
energy" says one, Just like light
Or heat" ooh, no." is the reply.
ut is not energy at all, though it
may possess or convey energy" One
dsputant is talking about the cleo
tricity of the physical and the other
about that of the clgineer; hence
their dispute is merely a matter of
definition, though they do not know
t. What wonder that some people
re still content to regard the whole
II It e a q liz, MrImbo Jrm-
O. st. IS ,er bIi