12. Lesson 12: Faraday’s Experiments and An Extraordinary Idea

Electricity and Magnetism together

His story is almost out of Charles Dickens …with whom he became friendly as an adult. While he was not exactly like Pip, Michael Faraday’s story is a warm, threadbare-to-success tale. There will never be another Faraday. Single-handedly he linked electricity with magnetism, and back again. He essentially invented the field of electro- chemistry, the motor, the generator, and created the basis of numerous industrial processes. All because he was inquisitive.

“The natural philosopher should be a man willing to listen to every suggestion, but determined to judge for himself. He should not be biased by appearances; have no favourite hypothesis; be of no school; and in doctrine have no master. He should not be a respecter of persons, but of things. Truth should be his primary object. If to these qualities be added industry, he may indeed hope to walk within the veil of the temple of nature.“ Fifth Lecture to the City Philosophical Society, 1816.

While he was not exactly like Pip, Michael Faraday’s story is a warm, threadbare-to-success tale. There will never be another Faraday. Single-handedly he linked electricity with magnetism, and back again. He essentially invented the field of electrochemistry, the motor, the generator, and created the basis of numerous industrial processes. All because he was inquisitive.

  Goals of this lesson:

Understanding, Appreciation, and Familiarity

I’d like you to Understand:

• Faraday’s Law of Induction

• Lines of Force for electric and magnetic fields

• Importance of the Ether

I’d like you to Appreciate:

• The general idea of a motor

• The general idea of a generator

I’d like you to become Familiar With:

• Faraday’s life