Inventor of Electric Current – Currently electricity has become a primary need for many people. Now all technology requires electric current to make it easier for humans to use. Almost every aspect of our life is related to electricity. Looking at PLN data, the Indonesian population’s electricity consumption will reach 146 Watt hours (TWh) from January to July 2021. This number has increased by 4.44% compared to 2020.
This data is only collected in Indonesia. Imagine collecting all the data about the world’s electricity consumption. The world will be dark without lights (candles, flashlights and other lighting), electronic devices such as cellphones and laptops will die at some point, and telephone towers will go down.
That is, there is no remote communication or the Internet. All machines or technologies that consume electricity will stop working, vehicles without lights, traffic lights will turn off, industry will die (except agriculture), and many other worst things will certainly have a negative impact on the world economy.
Electricity as part of a natural phenomenon has actually been known to humans for a long time. Electricity exists naturally and has been studied by various scientists for thousands of years. However, the use of electricity in our daily life is completely new in human history. Humans have studied electricity for a long time, but cannot use it in everyday life.
Well, until finally a number of great scientists like Benjamin Franklin, Michael Faraday, Nikola Tesla were born, then we can then find ways and tools to use electricity in our daily lives.
Therefore, we must thank the father of electricity in the world. Thanks to his high curiosity and perseverance, we can be at the current level of life. The following is the history of how the inventors of electric current developed their experiments so that we can use electricity today:
History of the Discovery of Electric Current
The electricity we use today has proven to be a trivial phenomenon. It was proposed by the Greek thinker Thales, who lived and founded it in 640546 BC. He was just starting to see the amber and bits of cat hair that could be pulled away as dry grass. Thales was still shocked at the time, but his records show that ancient people had already observed the phenomenon of static electricity.
Thales’ electrostatic phenomena became well known in the early 18th century. At that time, people used static electricity for entertainment, that is, for damage. People started rubbing glass rods on the woolen cloth and touching everyone in shock, even one Louis XV did it too. He could be knocked unconscious by it because he once ordered his army of 180 men to join hands.
From the city of Baghdad, there is also a big mystery about the history of electricity. A 2000 year old relic was discovered in the form of a vase containing a composite structure resembling a wet battery. This vase is believed to be used as a medical device for electrotherapy. However, in the absence of clear evidence, this phenomenon is considered to be pure coincidence.
Electrical phenomena were then studied by the British scientist William Gilbert. In 1600 he was the first to investigate the existence of electric attraction and electric fields. Carl DuFay, a French chemist also observed in 1733 that electricity has two charges, positive and negative.
Talking about the history of electricity, how was this kind of energy first discovered, and who discovered the first electric current? it is a very long story. As Sinaumed’s knows, electricity has been around for a long time. That is, electricity is not found, but its use is growing to facilitate people’s lives. Basically, electricity has existed in nature since ancient times.
Electrical Development Phases
To understand the history of the development of electric current, the following phases of the development of electricity are based on the discoveries made by scientists at that time:
1. Ancient Egypt
How about the first story of the discovery of electric current? Some sources say that the existence of electricity was first “acknowledged” from ancient Egyptian texts hundreds of years ago. At that time, Malapterurus Electricus was used as a method of treatment on the Nile River. They know that there are fish that can actually transmit some amount of energy. This can have a “paralytic” effect on the body. This medicine, which is said to relieve pain and headaches, was practiced until the end of the 17th century.
2. Amber Thales of Miletus
In addition, the history of electricity is related to the works of the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales of Miletus around 600 BC which are interconnected. Thales wrote about rubbing amber with animal hair, trying to create a flow of energy. The result of Thales’ experiment is what we call static electricity. This stone is called electron in Latin and rectron in Greek.
3. Gilbert & Brown
The development of other experiments was continued in the 17th century by the English physicist William Gilbert. He wrote about a book called De Magnete. Gilbert was the first scientist to use the term electricity to describe his experimental results regarding electric forces, magnetic forces, and electric attraction. Then Sir Thomas Brown, an English physicist, first mentioned the word electricity in his book to describe Gilbert’s experiments.
4. Gericke and Charles Francois du Faye
In 1663, German scientist Otto Von Guericke conducted an experiment that contributed to the history of electricity. He experimented with a sulfur ball that was rotated with a wooden stick. His experiment is known as the start of the generator. Gericke’s work was continued by the French physicist Charles François du Fay, who defined the resin charge or negative (-) and vitreous charge or positive (+) charge of these charges.
Figure Inventor of Electric Current and Its History
Based on the description of the history and development of electricity above, there are several figures who carried out major experiments on electricity and are considered the fathers of world electricity, who are they? Here is a short biography:
1. Benjamin Franklin
The problem of electricity was then investigated by a famous American thinker and researcher named Benjamin Franklin. In 1751 Franklin managed to publish a book on electricity entitled “Experiments and Observations of Electricity”. This book contains his observations about the rapid growth of electricity due to static electricity.
Franklin mentions in his book several electrical terms, such as the existence of two poles in the flow of electricity, namely the negative pole and the positive pole. Franklin considered lightning to be an electrical phenomenon. Not quite satisfied, he directly experimented with kites. If Sinaumed’s ever saw a picture of Franklin lightning striking while flying a kite, that’s wrong. But the story continues, namely Franklin flying a kite attached to a sharp iron spike when it rains.
He wanted to prove that rain can cause a lot of static electricity. Then Franklin locked the metal lock at the bottom of the kite line, about 0.5 meters from the handlebars. Meanwhile, he used a silk attachment to the grip to prevent the anesthetic from directly touching his hand. Without the lightning, Franklin slowly tried to reach the shadow lock, and was done. There was a small electric shock that pierced him.
This experiment shows that electricity and electrons move from the cloud to the positive electrode, the body itself. Franklin’s experiments also showed that electricity could be explored, studied, and even controlled on a large scale. That made it viral worldwide and the study of electricity is interesting to study again.
Franklin’s experiments were supported by his own son. From these experiments, it can be seen that there is a relationship between lightning and electricity. In his experiments, Franklin used other devices such as locks and Rayden Glass to store electricity.
Another unforgettable scientist is the Italian scientist Alessandro Volta. Of course Sinaumed’s knows who he is, right? Volta is the inventor of the first battery. In addition, Humphry Davy invented the first arc lamp or light bulb in 1808. After 1820, Hans Christian Elstead, AM Ampere and DFG Arago managed to confirm the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
In 1831, Michael Faraday invented the dynamo. Since then, the use of electricity has become more sophisticated with the discovery of light bulbs that can emit light for a long time. We know the scientist who invented this lamp by the name of Thomas Alva Edison.
2. Michael Faraday
After Franklin’s experiments, there were many amazing discoveries about electricity. In 1800, Italian physicist Alessandro Volta managed to find the battery as a source of electricity. Humphry Davy also succeeded in converting electrical energy into light in 1808 with his arc lamp. These discoveries continued until they reached a British electrical scientist named Michael Faraday.
Michael Faraday was born in 1791 in New Inton. Faraday initially worked as a bookbinder and read many research papers. Because of his interest, he was invited to lectures by the famous scientist Humphry Davy, and even became an assistant in Davy’s lab. Since then, reported by sciencehistory.org in 1813 Faraday began working at Davie and studied chemistry directly with him.
Who really was Sir Humphry Davy? Davy was one of the most famous chemists of his time. He discovered sodium and potassium, and later studied the decomposition of hydrochloric acid (hydrochloric acid). Consequently, Davy discovered the element chlorine in 1822.
Faraday continued his research on electricity and magnetism into the 1820s. Until finally he married Sara Bernard in 1821 and lived at the Royal Institute. It was there that Faraday began his experiments, one of which is noteworthy in the discovery of electromagnetic phenomena. Through the battery, he observed that the copper coil connected to the battery was causing a magnetic field. Faraday later hypothesized that if electricity could create magnets, then magnets could also generate electricity.
Faraday also used a copper coil to wrap around a magnet, but found that current flowed when the magnet moved. As a result, Faraday concluded that a magnet moving in a closed copper coil produced an electric current. From this experiment Faraday discovered the existence of electromagnetic induction, and from this research Faraday made his first discoveries in the field of physics, namely the electric motor. Faraday’s invention helped build today’s electric motors.
After that, this electromagnetic induction became the precursor of the dynamo and was able to generate electrical energy with kinetic energy (motion). Until 1931, he demonstrated a dynamo by means of electromagnetic induction. Thanks to this ingenious invention, he is called the father of electricity in the world which allows him to use electricity directly.
In 1839, Michael Faraday was suffering from memory impairment. Since then, Faraday’s health began to deteriorate. He began to cut back on his studies, but continued to work as a teacher until 1861. At age 75, the inventor of the electric current died on August 25, 1867, while studying at his home in Hampton Court. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery in north London. A plaque was erected commemorating his monumental work at Westminster Abbey Church near Isaac Newton’s funeral.
Faraday is known as the father of electricity because his discoveries made electricity the most useful technology today. But Michael Faraday’s life is not as simple as we think. He comes from a poor family and worked hard on his own to acquire most of his knowledge.
3. Nikola Tesla
Born July 10, 1856, Nikola Tesla is the inventor of alternating electric current and radio who is known for his genius. Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia and raised in a family of orthodox priests. Initially, his father recommended that Tesla become a priest, but he preferred science. From the biography, Nikola Tesla graduated from Charles University. In the 1870s he moved to Budapest and worked for a telephone company.
It was in this city that Nikola Tesla came up with the idea of building an electric motor. At the age of 28, he decided to leave Europe and move to the United States (US). Nikola Tesla worked for Thomas Edison’s company on Uncle Sam’s land. It wasn’t until 1884, that he officially became employed in Edison’s office in industrial DC. These two scientists quickly worked to develop many innovations. These innovations were primarily Edison’s inventions. Unfortunately, their collaboration did not last long.
Due to disagreements, Nikola Tesla decided to stop working with Edison. The business-oriented Edison and not the Tesla mindset. In 1885, Nikola Tesla started his own invention. Relying on history, he created more than 30 patents for his inventions in 1887 and 1888. Nikola Tesla made many inventions throughout his life that are useful today, such as AC systems with power, radio remote control, electric motors, high-voltage transformers.
Despite his many inventions, Nikola Tesla was not immediately honored. In fact, he is often considered crazy because his original ideas are considered strange. In 1895, Nikola Tesla’s laboratory was burned down. Many records of his discoveries were also burned. After the fire, Nikola Tesla continued to be unhappy. In 1917 he went bankrupt.
Nikola Tesla spent the rest of his life working on new inventions. When he first launched History, his obsession with No. 3 made Tesla think about mental illness. Nikola Tesla’s days were finally spent feeding the pigeons. As a result of the disturbance he experienced, Tesla even claimed to be able to communicate with pigeons. Nikola Tesla died in a hotel room in New York on January 7, 1943. He died at the age of 86.
Well, that’s an explanation of the history of the inventors of electric current. If Sinaumed’s asks who actually invented electricity for the first time in the world, the answer is of course long, because each scientist complements and contributes to the comfort of our lives today in every experiment.
Inventions can always be thought of in a way that develops into a unique story, so it doesn’t really matter much about it. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin could light up the problem of electrical phenomena, but Faraday was able to turn Franklin’s idea into a larger spark, electricity that was used. Of course, the great inventor started with deep observations of science.
Sinaumed’s can learn a lot from the inspirational stories of influential figures in the world for their great works through the sinaumedia book collection at www.sinaumedia.com , such as the following recommendations for stories from world inspirational figures: Enjoy studying. #Friends Without Limits.