Faraday: diverse work from 1820 to 1840

In 1821, following Hans Christian Oersted's discovery of electro-magnetism, Faraday discovered electro-magnetic rotations, the principle behind the electric motor. In the 1820s Faraday liquefied gases and discovered what was later called benzene. In 1825 he established the Christmas Lectures for children and the Friday Evening Discourses for members of the Royal Institution, and both series continue to this day.

Faraday spent much of his time in the late 1820s working on a project to improve optical glass for the Admiralty, so it wasn't until 1831 that he was able to return to his research on electricity. His discovery of electro-magnetic induction in 1831 commenced a remarkable decade of work. Amongst other things, he rewrote the theory of electrochemistry (coining many words still in use today such as electrode and ion) and established his laws of electrolysis. In 1836 he built the Faraday cage which showed that measurements of electric charge depended on the electrical state of the observer. This observation led Faraday to develop his theory that electricity was the result of varying magnetic forces between particles rather than a fluid as previously supposed.

next

Keywords

  1. 17032 articles are tagged with 1800s 
  2. 24963 articles are tagged with chemistry 
  3. 36967 articles are tagged with Christmas 
  4. 15429 articles are tagged with Davy 
  5. 20180 articles are tagged with electricity 
  6. 133149 articles are tagged with Faraday 
  7. 12787 articles are tagged with Fullerian 
  8. 19528 articles are tagged with London 
  9. 8852 articles are tagged with religion 
  10. 3844 articles are tagged with safety