History of Electricity

Prepared by:
Sunshine P. Lampayan
BTLED-IA 3A
William Gilbert (1544-1603)
 Natural manifestations of electricity and
magnetism.
 The magnetic properties of lodestone and the
electric properties of amber had long been known
and humans have always been aware of lightning.
 Lodestone, a magnetic oxide of iron, will align
itself on a north-south axis if placed on a piece of
wood floating in water
 This enables it to act as a compass. Amber, if
rubbed with certain materials, will attract light
objects such as paper
 The same phenomena can be observed with
Sulphur, glass, wax crystals and various gems.
 Otto von Guericke and
Francis Hauksbee (1660)
 Electrical machines, early 18 century.
 An electric charge could be moved along a
stick and a thread and that there were two
types of electricity, a positive charge and a
negative charge and that similar types repel
each other and opposite types attract each
other.
 Insulating material could stop electricity
from being lost from charged objects and
anything could be provided with an electric
charge so long as it is properly insulated.
 Otto von Guericke and
Francis Hauksbee (1660)

 The machines used by von Guericke,

Hauksbee, Gray and Du Fay could collect a
limited electric charge but it wasn’t until
1745 when the Leyden jar was invented,
that it was possible to store a substantial
charge so it could be used in later
experiments.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-90)

 Conservation of charge, that while electricity

could be moved around, the amount of
positive charge must be balanced by an
equivalent negative charge, so that the total
amount of electricity remains the same.
 His experiments, including the famous
experiment of flying a kite during a
thunderstorm, showed that lightning was a
form of electricity.
 Alessandro Volta (1800)
 voltaic pile
 The voltaic pile consisted of a series of
combinations of metals like copper and zinc,
widely separated in the reactive series, and
physically separated by a moist material, piled
on top of each other and connected by a wire.
 It provided a flow of electric current that could
be turned on and off at will.
 Volta’s invention soon became a vital
laboratory tool for studying electricity and for
decomposing compounds and later when
further progress was made it developed
important applications outside the laboratory.
Hans Oersted (1820)

 Discovered that an electric current affected

the behavior of a compass needle.
 A compass needle is also affected by the
force from a magnet so it seemed as though
the electric current had the same effect as a
magnet.
 Oersted’s discovery also lead to the invention
of the electromagnet, a wire through which
an electric current runs causing the wire to
behave as a magnet.
Michael Faraday (1821)
 Vertical copper rod
 A magnet was placed near the bottom of the
rod and the rod moved around the magnet.
 This involved the conversion of electrical
energy into mechanical energy and was the
world’s first electric motor.
 Faraday had discovered that a moving
magnet causes an electrical current.
 Faraday’s discovery showed mechanical
energy, such as motion, could be used to
create electrical energy. This called electric
generator or dynamo.
Zenobe Gramme (1873)

 Built a practical electric generator

that allowed rotary power to be
turned into electric current.
 The world’s first power generation
station opened in England in 1881
supplying hydro-electric power to the
local city council and to private
premises.
 In 1882 another power station using
steam power opened in London and a
power station using six generators
was opened in New York
Development
of the
Electric Light
(1845)
J.W. Starr

 Proposed the use of carbon

filaments, as carbon is a good
radiator of heat, inside a glass
bulb containing no air so as to
prevent the hot filament being
burnt away.
Joseph Swan

 Tried to produce such a light but was not

successful as it was not possible to create a
perfect vacuum within the bulb with the
vacuum pumps then available. Swan also
decided the light needed a better source of
electricity than batteries.
 The problem of creating the vacuum was solved
when Herman Sprengel invented the mercury
vacuum pump and in 1879 Swan produced a
vacuum electric light.
Thomas Edison

 Produced his electric light and

then both Swan and Edison
began manufacturing the light
bulbs, initially in competition,
but later in partnership.