The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1916-10-13
No. g..
ELECTRICITY.
WY u 10 Difficult For the Lsymas -
Understand What II Ia


what is electricity ?" is a favor
tie query with people who desire to
get q rise" out of scientific man.
And when he fails to answer it. in
the same simple fashion that ha
might treat the question What Is
Q biscuit" the questioner cries ou::
sAha! You profess to know all
about electricity. Why;>you can't
sven tell what it is"
Now, TO "tell what thing is
that is, to define its to state its
relations 18th something more "a
miliar .c particular familiar
thing pe+ the questioner is thinL-
ing % II rs ease is ordinary mat
ter a. been Explained to-
hir atioa 4 material par1
ticle !, aaS been told, i
va n t.e ether, and hS
unde' t..er to be a kind
OF / r Substance reser1-
bling ina ~ sane particulars.
1t is - 10 he denied that no
such SiaI"r General relationship
can be stated between electricity
and matter. But, this being so, il
would be just as correct to say that
We do not know what matter is as
that We 10 not know what electrici-
ty 70. As a matter Of fact, We do
not know what matter is, and the
latest plausible theory Of it builds
Il up on an electric basis, so that on
tAs 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 detec:
only matter. ElscsEicity they know
only seconsiarily, through its action
spoa matier-the LIGHT or heat that
II csosss matter to give oct, the at
tssction that il causes certain sub
fbnees 10 exert, and 90 on. To the
kan In the street, therefore, matter
d familiar, and he demands a state
nsnt Of the latter in terms of the
Ssrmer, illogical tissush this may
b. After the sciAntist has stated
Ell this the reply comes back, les,
I understand all that. and it 10
most cleaf, Lam sure, but tell me.
them. What b electricity anyway"
s Another source Of confusion TO
the lay mind 10 that scientific men
do not always use the word "elec-
tricity" to mean the same thing.
The engineer often employs it to-
express the thing that the theoret-
ical electrician calls electric ener-
U."
To hnd the energy Of electricity
that is, its ability TO do work
the electrician multip!ics the quap.
tity of electricity by the potsntial
or tension under which it exists.
But to- the engineer this product
itself measures the thing that hs
calls electricity"
The work that a pound OF waite,
may do by falling a foot is one focs
pound. The water is the same attce
falling a. before. though It's eneryY
10 less. So to the electrician 6
quantity Of electricity ut 100 volts
Is precisely the same Us at one volt,
though the former is sble to do q
hundred times as much work.
This difference in meaning causes
thousands of disputes among stu>
dents. Electricity is q form Of
says one, Gust like light
o. heat" ooh, now is the reply.
~1t is not energy at all, though 10
may possess or convey energy" One
&putant is talking about the cleo
tricity Of the physical and the other
about that of the engineer; hence
their dispute is merely q matter Of
definition, though they do not know
+ What wonder that some people
~ still content to regard the whole
pxbj"ct "a CT liza N'imho Jrrt.
sl- ST. : 10 saa BIZ