The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1915-10-01
ELECTRICITY.
10y n 10 Difficult For the Lsynas -
uoderstand What II Ia

wAy n is Dtffeult For the Lsyuuas -
uoderstand What II 10.
What Il electricity?" is q favor
10 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 'Whst is
q biscuitf" the questioner cries out:
sAhsl You profess to know all
shout electricity. Why, you can't
even tell what it is~
Now, 70 "tell what thing is"-
that is, 20 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
tzr. Heat has been explained to
him a. q vibration OF material par
ttcles. Light, he has been told, is
wave motion in the ether, and he
understands the ether to be kind
Of matter or q substance resem-
bling matter in some particulars-
It h not to be denied that no
such simple general relationship
can be stated between electricity
and matter. But, this being so, II
vonh be Just as correct to say that
We do not know what matter is as
thea We do not know what electrici-
ty n. As matter Of fact, we do
not know what matter is, and the
latest plausible theory OF it builds
10 up ON an electric basis, so that on
lids theory the idea of electricity is
more fundamental than that Of
matter. Unfortunately our senses
hxye been evolved by contact with
matter and are trained to detect
only matter. Electricity they know
only seconaarily, through its action
upon matter-the hight or heat that
II causes matter TO give out, the at
traction that IL causes certain sub
stances 10 exert, and so on To the
man IN the steet therefore, matter
is familiar, and he demands a state
usut Of the hitter in terms Of the
Surmer, Illogical though this may
bs. After ths scientist has stated
al tfds the reply comes back, Yes,
I understand all that, and it Is
most clear, / am sure, but tell me,
than, what Is electricity anyway 7"
Another source Of confusion to
shs hy mind is that scientific men
do not always use tho word "elec-
tricity" to mean the sarne thing.
The engineer often employs it to
sxyrcss the thing that the theoret-
licl electrician calls electric ensr-
IU- 80.
To ind the energy Of electricity
that is, its ability to do work.
the electrician multiples tho guam
tity of electricity by the potential
or tension under which 1t exista
But to the engineer this product
itself measures the thing that be
calls "electricity."
The work that a pound OF water
may do by falling foot Is ons foot
pound. The water is the Eafne after
falling as before, though its energy
N less. So to the electrician .
quantity Of electricity at 100 volts
u precisely the same as at one volt,
though the former il able to do 9
hundred times assmuch work.
This difference in meaning causes
Thousands Of disputes among stu
dents. Electricity IL . form OF
energy" says one, "iust like light
or heat ooh, nop In the reply.
-Tt is not energy at all, though II
may possess or convey energy" One
disputant is talking about the cleo
tricity of the physical and the other
about that Of the engineer; hence
their dispute is merely . matter OF
dsfnition, though they do not know
! Il. What wonder that some people
frs still content to regard the whole
subioct ss a ciyiliz.d Mumbo Jam