The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1917-04-27
ELECTRICITY.
Why II 10 Difficult For the Lsyman
Understand What IL IL.

Understand What 1t Is.
what is electricity" is a fave
lite query with people who desire
3get a rise" out of scientific ma
And when he fails to answer il
the same simple fashion that !
might treat the question "What j.
q biscuit?" the questioner cries on,
@Ahal You profess to know 81
about electricity. Why, you cant
even tell what it is !"
Now, to "tell what a thing is
that is, to define its to state rs
relations with something more fa-
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 az vibration of material par
ticles Light, he has been told, is
Q wa' motion in the ether, and he
understands the ether to be a kind
OF matter or a substance resem-
bling matter in some particulars.
It Is not to be denied that no
such simple general relationship
can be stated between electricity
and matter. But, this being so. it
would be just as correct to say that
we do not know what matter is az
that we do not know what electrici-
ty Is. AS a 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 secondarily, through its action
upon matter-the light or heat that
= -oauses. matter to give out, he 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 state
ment Of the latter in terms of the
former, illogical though this may
be. After the scientist has stated
all this the reply comes back, "Yes,
I understand all that, and It is
most clear, ! am sure, but tell M,
then, what is electricity anyway"
Another source of confusion to
the lay mind is that scientific men
do not always use tie word "elec.
tricity" to mean the same thing.
The engineer often employs it 10
express the thing that the theoret-
ical electrician calls electric ene,.
gy."
To find the ener Y Of electricity
that is, its abilit to do work
the electrician multip.ies the guam
tity Of electricity bv the potential
or tension under which it exists.
But to tie eng'0ocr this product
itself measure the thing that he
calls "ciectre'
The We ..t g pond or watc-
may 60 e loot is one foot
pound. . pc wafer is he same sftcr
falling as before. though It's energ
il less S, II :he electrician a
quantity Of eleotricity at 100 sclts
Is precisely the same as at one volt,
thouga the form er is able to do =
hundred times as much work.
This differen 2 in meaning cause,
thousand5 o. putes among stu
dents. electricity Is form Of
energy" says one, Gust like light
or heat" "Oh, no" Is the reply,
"Ts is not energy at all, though it
may possess or convey energy" ooe
disputant is talking about the elec-
tEicity Of the physical and the other
about that of the engineer; hence
thei- disnOte is merely a matter o.
defnitio though they do not know
it. What wonder that some people
re- still content TO regard the whole
sabjoct O. a i liu4l Mumbo Jl ra~
o2- St q lep bli -,