Fig. 4
Electric Furnaces
By far the most important application of electric heat, as such, is in electric furnaces, by means of which we attain the highest temperatures known to man. The electric furnace consists of a chamber of “refractory” material, containing the substances to be acted upon by the heat, with a pair of big carbon electrodes thrust into the centre, as shown in Fig. 4, which is a picture of Moissan’s electric furnace for the distillation of metals, and supplied with heavy continuous or alternating currents. The apparatus is therefore a sort of gigantic electric arc-lamp, so enclosed that the whole of the intense heat of the arc is confined and concentrated on the smelting or other work. In many places where cheap electric power is to be had—as in the vicinity of the great Niagara Falls power-plants—electric furnaces are employed in what are known as electrometallurgical and electrochemical manufacturing processes. By their aid many metals and other substances that were formerly scientific curiosities, or entirely unknown, are produced commercially; such as aluminum, certain rare metals, and calcium carbide, from which that wonderful illuminant, acetylene-gas, is obtained.
Welding Metals
Another useful application of electric heat is in the welding of metals. Instead of heating the pieces to be welded in a forge, their ends are simply butted together and the electricity—generally from an alternating-current transformer—turned on. The heat developed by the “contact resistance” between the pieces quickly softens the metal so that the pieces may be forced together, forming a perfect weld in a few minutes without any hammering. Fig. 5 is a view of one form of electric welding-machine in which this is accomplished. The electric process can weld certain metals that cannot be joined securely by ordinary welding methods, and is used in several special arts.
Welding is also performed by the heat of a special electric arc-lamp, which a workman holds in his hand like a blow-pipe or torch. This process is especially useful in joining the edges of sheet-steel, in making tanks for electric “transformers,” etc. The workmen have to wear smoked glasses in order to protect their eyes from the intense glare of the arc.
Fig. 5
Electric Car-heaters
Perhaps the simplest and best-known application of electric heat is the electric car-heater, consisting of coils of high-resistance wire—such as iron or German-silver wire—mounted on an insulating, non-combustible frame which is placed under the seats of the car. Part of the current from the trolley wire or third rail passes through the resistance-coils, heating them up and thereby warming the air in the car.
Household Uses
Nowadays electric heat is being more and more widely utilized in what are known as household electric heating-appliances. One of the most useful of these is the electric flat-iron, shown in Fig. 6. This flat-iron is designed to do away with the use of a hot stove of any kind, and is internally heated by means of a resistance-coil of peculiar shape placed in the bottom of the iron close against its working face. The iron is connected to an electric-light socket by means of an attaching plug on the end of a long, flexible cord. It takes only a few minutes to get hot, and its use saves much time and labor.
The list of special heating-appliances that are now made includes curling-iron heaters; heating-pads, for taking the place of hot-water bags in the sick-room; cigar-lighters, in which a little grid “resistance” is made incandescent by pressing a button; foot-warmers; and radiators to dry wet shoes or skirts on rainy days. For industrial use there are glue-pots, for bookbinders and pattern-makers; large flat-irons, for tailor-shops and laundries; and electric ovens, for drying certain parts of electrical machines and for cooking various kinds of “prepared foods.”
Many electric cooking-utensils are made for the household, such as coffee-percolators, egg-boilers, ovens, disk stoves, etc. Each one is equipped with a resistance-coil like that in the electric flat-iron just described, so that it contains its own source of heat, which is under perfect control by means of a switch. An “electric kitchen” consists of a number of these utensils, wired to a convenient table or stand, as shown in Fig. 7.
Electric Power
We have seen that the modern way to generate electricity is from mechanical energy applied through a dynamo, and that the “electric power” thus generated may be transmitted over wires to a distance and there transformed into other forms of energy, such as light, heat, and chemical energy, or reproduced again as mechanical energy. The last mentioned of these transformations is the most important of them all, because it is the one that means the most for the advancement of civilization. Before the invention of the dynamo and the discovery that it was reversible, mechanical power could be employed only in the place where it was generated, so that its use was restricted; whereas nowadays the field of power is broadened and its cost reduced by electrical transmission and distribution.
In the chapter on Dynamos and Motors we learned how to make and use those machines. Let us review, very briefly, just what happens in the double transformation—of mechanical energy into electricity and then back again at the end of a line of wires—that we call electric-power transmission. In the dynamo, the power of the water-wheel, or whatever other prime mover is used, is exerted in generating electricity by forcing the electric conductors of the machine through a magnetic field. The electricity is led away to a distance—a hundred miles, perhaps—by wires and allowed to enter another machine similar to the dynamo, but operating as a motor. Here the first process is reversed: the electricity passing through the conductors of the motor reacts upon its magnetic field, causing the machine to revolve and thus generating mechanical power again. The line-wires carry the power just as positively as though a long shaft ran from the prime mover to the receiving end of the line, and much more economically. The action that goes on is similar to the operation of the telephone—which is indeed a special case of electric-power transmission—as already explained in a former chapter: the sound of the voice being transformed, at the telephone-transmitter, into electrical energy in the form of alternating currents, then carried as such over the line and finally reproduced as sound again at the receiver.
Power from Water-wheels
“Hydro-electric” transmissions—i. e., electric transmissions of power from a water-wheel as prime mover—are the most important because they bring into use cheap water-power that formerly ran to waste. There are many hydro-electric transmissions in this country, Mexico, and Canada, some of them utilizing the power of waterfalls or rapids located in mountainous and inaccessible parts. The alternating current is nearly always used because by it men can much more easily and safely generate, transmit, and receive the high voltages that have to be used than by the continuous current. The machinery at the “main generating station” consists of big alternating-current dynamos, which sometimes have vertical shafts instead of horizontal ones, so that they may be driven directly by turbines. The current is generated at a moderate potential, which is then “stepped-up,” by “static transformers,” to the comparatively high-line voltage that is required in long-distance transmissions.
Fig. 8
Transformers
Fig. 8 is a view of a very large transformer of over 2500 electrical horse-power capacity. In the picture the containing-tank is represented as transparent, so as to show the transformer proper inside. The latter is really a special kind of induction-coil, with primary and secondary windings, and a core, weighing many tons, built up of thin sheets of steel. In this kind of transformer, the tank is filled with oil, to keep the transformer cool in operation, and to help insulate it against the high potential to which it is subjected. At the receiving end, or “sub-station,” the high-voltage electric power enters a set of “step-down” transformers, from which it is delivered again, at moderate potential, to the motors.
Sometimes power is distributed from a single great generating station to several sub-stations. In the Necaxa transmission, in Mexico, over 35,000 horse-power is taken from a waterfall in the mountains and transmitted at 60,000 volts potential to Mexico City, 100 miles away, and to the mining town of El Oro, seventy-four miles farther on.
Several kinds of motors are used at the receiving end of electric-power transmission-lines, according to the work that they are called upon to do. For “stationary” work, like driving the machines in mills and factories, two principal kinds of alternating-current motors are employed—synchronous and induction motors. The former are built just like alternating-current dynamos, and when they are running they keep “in step” with the dynamo at the other end of the line; i. e., the motion of their field windings relatively to their armatures keeps exact pace with the same motion at the dynamo, just as though a long shaft ran from one machine to the other instead of the electric wires of the transmission-line. A motor of this type, at work driving an air-compressor, is shown in Fig. 9. The induction-motor is really a sort of transformer, the primary winding of which is the fixed part, or field, and the secondary winding the rotating armature. It does not keep in step with the dynamo, like the synchronous motor, but adapts its speed to the “load,” or amount of work that it is called upon to do, like a continuous-current motor.
Fig. 9
Rotary Converters
Sometimes alternating-current electric power is transformed at the sub-station into continuous-current power. This is done by a special kind of transformer called a “rotary converter.” The static transformers of which we have just been speaking are built, like ordinary reduction-coils, with no moving parts, and operate by taking in alternating currents at a given potential and giving out alternating currents at a different potential, higher or lower as the case may be. The rotary converter, however, is built something like a dynamo, with a stationary field and a revolving armature, and ordinarily operates by receiving an alternating current at a given potential and delivering a continuous current of the same or a different potential. This kind of transformation is employed wherever it is desired to obtain any large amount of continuous current from an alternating-current transmission-line; and especially to obtain “500-volt continuous current” for operating street and interurban electric railways, as we shall see under the next heading. Fig. 10 shows one form of rotary converter built for supplying continuous current for trolley service.
Fig. 10
Oftentimes the sub-station of a transmission system contains both static transformers and rotary converters, to supply both alternating current and continuous current from the same high-voltage alternating-current line. When the continuous current has to be transformed from one voltage to another, a “motor dynamo” is used, consisting of an electric motor driving a dynamo on a common shaft.
One of the most interesting features of electric-power transmission is the care that is taken to avoid the terrible danger from the high potentials, and at the same time prevent loss of power on the way. The electricity in the machinery and in the line-wires that extend across the country is veritable lightning, and has to be carefully guarded from doing any damage or escaping. To prevent leakage, the insulation of all of the station machinery and apparatus is made extra good, with “high dielectric strength,” so that it will not be punctured by the high voltage; and the line-insulators are made very large, and electrically and mechanically strong—quite unlike the ordinary-sized glass or porcelain insulators that are employed for telegraph and telephone lines. Each insulator before being put up is tested under a “breakdown voltage” much higher than it is to stand in actual service.
Oil-switches
The switching of high-voltage electric power is a knotty problem. The circuit cannot be interrupted by “air-break” switches, such as are used in ordinary electric-light stations, for any attempt to do so would result in a destructive arc many feet long, that could not be extinguished. Therefore “oil-switches” are always used to control the line-circuits at the main generating station and the sub-stations. In these oil-switches—which are designed to be operated from a distance, by hand-levers, or sometimes by electric motors—the circuit is made and broken under the surface of oil, which prevents the formation of an arc. Moreover, the switchboard attendant does not have to come anywhere near the deadly high-voltage wires, but can make the necessary connections at a safe distance.
Electric Traction
The use of the electric motor to propel vehicles of all kinds is called electric traction. It is, of course, a branch of electric power, which we have just been considering; and it is in many respects the most important branch. The wealth of a country is largely built up and maintained by its facilities for transportation, such as its canals, highways, railroads, and street and interurban car-lines.
In this field electric power is playing a most important part, although it was not many years ago that the first experimental electric cars were put in to replace horses on the street-railways of our cities. The change was found to be so successful that the field of the trolley-car was widened and extended very rapidly, until now we have our great suburban and interurban electric railways, with cars almost or quite as big as those on the steam-railroads and running at even higher speeds. During the last few years, also, the sphere of the steam-railroad itself has been invaded by electricity, by the construction of powerful electric locomotives to draw passenger and freight trains.
The Trolley-car
Let us consider just what it is that makes a trolley-car go. Since electric power is only mechanical energy in another form, we know that the motionless copper trolley-wire, suspended over the track in our streets, is the means of propelling the car just as truly—though in a different way—as if it were a moving steel cable to which the car was attached. We must keep in mind the fact that the electricity is not itself the source of power, but only the medium of transmission. The engine in the power-house, by turning a dynamo there, maintains a constant electric pressure, or “constant potential,” as it is termed, in the trolley-wire. This pressure of electricity forces the power through the motors of the car as soon as the motorman makes the connection to them by turning the handle of his “controller.”
Fig. 11
The Continuous-current Motor
Fig. 11 is a view of one form of continuous-current motor. There is not much of the motor itself to be seen, because it is entirely enclosed in a cast-iron case. The shaft of the motor has a small “spur gear” fixed on one end, driving a gear-wheel which is fixed on the car axle. By this arrangement more than one revolution of the motor armature is required to make one revolution of the car-wheel, which multiplies the force exerted in turning the wheel.
Fig. 12
The Controller
Fig. 12 is a view of a type of controller that is used on the platform of trolley-cars. The cover is removed to show the contacts, inside, by which the electric power is turned on gradually by the controller handle. The trains of electric cars that run on the elevated structures and in the subways of our large cities are supplied with power from a “third rail” placed by the side of the track, on insulating supports, and the motors on all the cars are controlled from a single “master-controller” on the front platform of the forward car. This system of control, known as the “multiple-unit” system, gives electric trains several advantages over the old kind, drawn by steam-locomotives; such as they used to have on the New York elevated roads, for example. For one thing, the train can be started much more quickly, since all the motors begin to turn the car-wheels at the same instant. Then again, the system enables a long train of cars to be controlled as easily as a single car, and better “traction” between wheels and track is obtained.
Electric Locomotives
Several of the great steam-railroads are now adopting the electric locomotive to draw their trains. Fig. 13 is a view of one of the great continuous current electric locomotives that are used by the New York Central Railroad to handle many of its passenger-trains in and out of the Grand Central Station, in New York city. The motors of this powerful electric engine, unlike those of trolley-cars, are “gearless”; that is, their armatures are fixed directly on the locomotive axles so that they revolve at the same speed as the driving-wheels.
Fig. 13
All of the railway motors considered thus far have been of the continuous-current type, although the current to operate them is often obtained from alternating current transmission-systems, through rotary converters, as described above. The alternating current is also beginning to be employed to drive cars and trains. One type of alternating current railway motor, designed for “single-phase” operation, is in use on several interurban systems in this country, running on high-voltage alternating current most of the time, but on continuous current when within the city limits.
Other Forms of Electric Traction
Electric traction also includes electric automobiles, supplied by storage-batteries; a slow-speed electric locomotive for drawing canal-boats, and called “the electric mule”; and an ingenious gasolene-electric outfit for driving cars by electric motors without any trolley, third rail, or storage-battery. The last-mentioned arrangement consists of a set of electric car-motors mounted on the trucks in the usual way, but supplied with current by a dynamo mounted on the car itself and driven by a gasolene-engine. Thus the car carries its own power-station about with it, and is independent of any outside source of electricity.
The old alchemists sought to transmute matter from one form to another; and especially lead and other “base metals” into gold, in order that they might grow rich by concentrating the precious metal in their own selfish hands. The modern miracle that electricity works for us, the transmutation of energy, is a higher and broader thing, because it multiplies and distributes the world’s good things.
APPENDIX
A DICTIONARY OF ELECTRICAL TERMS AND PHRASES
Everybody is interested in electricity, but the ordinary reader, and particularly the boy who attempts to use this manual intelligently, will come across many technical words and terms that require explanation. It would be impossible to incorporate all needful definitions in the text proper, and the reader is therefore referred to the technical dictionary on the succeeding pages.
Care has been taken in its compilation to make the definitions complete, simple, and concise. Some of the more advanced technical terms have been purposely omitted as not necessary in a book dealing with elementary principles. The student in the higher branches of the science will consult, of course, the more advanced text-books. But for our practical purposes this elementary dictionary should answer every requirement. To read it over is an education in itself, and the young experimenter in electrical science should always refer to it when he comes across a word or phrase that he does not fully understand.
A
A. An abbreviation for the word anode.
Absolute. Complete by itself. In quantities it refers to fixed units. A galvanometer gives absolute readings if it is graduated to read direct amperes or volts. An absolute vacuum is one in which all residual gases are exhausted; an absolute void is the theoretical consequent. The absolute unit of current is measured in one, two, three, or more amperes or volts.
A-C. An abbreviation expressing alternating current.
Acceleration. The rate of change in velocity.
The increase or decrease of motion when acted upon by the electric current.
Accumulator. A term applied to a secondary battery, commonly called a storage-battery.
Accumulator, Electrostatic. (See Electrostatic Accumulator.)
Accumulator, Storage. A storage-battery.
Acid. A compound of hydrogen capable of uniting with a base to form salts.
Sour, resembling vinegar.
A sharp, biting fluid.
Acidometer. A hydrometer used to determine the gravity of acids. It is employed chiefly in running storage-batteries to determine when the charge is complete.
Adapter. A screw-coupling to engage with different size screws on either end, and used chiefly to connect incandescent lamps to gas-fixtures.
Adherence. The attraction between surfaces of iron due to electro-magnetic action. The term is used in connection with electric brakes—electro-magnetic adherence.
Adjustment. Any change in an apparatus rendering it more efficient and correct in its work.
Aerial Conductor. A wire or electric conductor carried over housetops or poles, or otherwise suspended in the air, as distinguished from underground or submarine conductors.
Affinity. The attraction of atoms and molecules for each other, due to chemical or electrical action.
Air-condenser. A static condenser whose dielectric is air.
Air-line Wire. In telegraphy that portion of the line-wire which is strung on poles and carried through the air.
Alarm, Burglar. A system of circuits with an alarm-bell, the wires of which extend over a house or building, connecting the windows and doors with the annunciator.
Alarm, Electric. An appliance for calling attention, generally through the ringing of a bell or the operating of a horn.
Alarm, Fire and Heat. An expansion apparatus that automatically closes a circuit and rings a bell.
Alive, or “Live.” A term applied to a wire or circuit that is charged with electricity. A “live” wire.
Active circuits or wires.
Alloy. Any mixture of two or more metals making a scientific compound. For example: copper and zinc to form brass; copper, tin, and zinc to form bronze; copper, nickel, and zinc to form German-silver.
Alternating Current. (See Current, Alternating.)
Alternating Current-power. Electrical distribution employing the alternating current from dynamos or converters.
Alternation. A change in the direction of a current; to and fro. Alternations may take place with a frequency ranging from 500 to 10,000 or more vibrations per second.
Alternator. An electric generator-dynamo supplying an alternating current.
Amalgam. A combination of mercury with any other metal.
Amalgamation. The application of mercury to a metal, the surface of which has been cleansed with acid. Mercury will adhere to all metals, except iron and steel, and particularly to zinc, which is treated with mercury to retard the corrosive action of acid on its surface.
Amber. A fossil resin, valuable only in frictional electric experiments. Most of it is gathered on the shores of the Baltic Sea between Königsberg and Memel. It is also found in small quantities at Gay Head, Massachusetts, and in the New Jersey green sand. When rubbed with a cloth it becomes excited with negative electricity.
Ammeter. The commercial name for an ampere-meter. An instrument designed to show, by direct reading, the number of amperes of current which are passing through a circuit.
Ampere. The practical unit of electric current strength. It is the measure of the current produced by an electro-motive force of one volt through a resistance of one ohm.
Ampere-currents. The currents theoretically assumed to be the cause of magnetism.
Ampere-hour. The quantity of electricity passed by a current of one ampere in one hour. It is used by electric light and power companies as the unit of energy supplied by them, and on which they base their reckoning for measuring the charges for current consumed.
Ampere-ring. A conductor forming a ring or circle. Used in electric balances for measuring current.
Animal Electricity. A form of electricity of high tension generated in certain animal systems—the Torpedo, Gymnotus, and Célurus. The shocks given by these fish, and particularly the electric eel, are often very severe.
Annealing. The process of softening yellow metals by heating them to a cherry redness, then allowing them to cool gradually in the air.
Electric annealing is done by passing a current through the body to be annealed, and heating it to redness; then allowing it to cool gradually.
Annunciator. An apparatus for giving a call from one place to another, as from a living-room to a hotel office, or for designating a window or door that may have been opened when protected by a burglar-alarm.
Annunciator-drop. The little shutter which is dropped by some forms of annunciators, and whose fall discloses a number or letter, designating the location from which the call was sent.
Anode. The positive terminal in a broken, metallic, or true conducting circuit.
The terminal connected to the carbon-plate of a battery, or to its equivalent in any other form of electric generator, such as a dynamo or a voltaic pile.
The copper, nickel, gold, or silver plates hung in an electro-plating bath, and from which the metal is supplied to fill the deficiency made by the electro-deposition of metal on the kathode or negative object in the bath.
Anti-hum. A shackle inserted directly in a line-wire near a pole. It is provided with a washer or cushion of rubber to take up the vibrations of a wire. To continue the circuit a bridle, or curved piece of wire, is connected with the line-wires that are attached to the shackle.
Arc. A term applied to an electric current flowing from carbon to carbon, or from metals separated by a short gap, as in the arc street-lamps.
The original arc was produced by two vertical rods, through which the current passed up and down. When not in action the upper ends touched, but as the current flowed the ends were separated, so that the current, passing up one carbon across the gap and down the other, formed the segment of a circle in jumping from one tip to the other.
An arc of electric flame is of brilliant and dazzling whiteness. The voltaic arc is the source of the most intense heat and light yet produced by man. The light is due principally to the incandescence of the ends of carbon-pencils, when a current of sufficient strength is passing through them and jumping over the gap. Undoubtedly the transferred carbon particles have much to do with its formation. The conductivity of the intervening air and the intense heating to which it is subjected, together with its coefficient of resistance, are other factors in the brilliant light produced.
Arc-lamp. An electric lamp which derives its light from the voltaic arc, by means of carbon-pencils and a current jumping from one to the other.
Arc, Quiet. An arc free from the hissing sound so common in arc-lights.
Arc, Simple. A voltaic arc produced between only two electrodes.
Armature. A body of iron or other material susceptible to magnetization, and which is placed on or near the poles of a magnet.
That part of an electric mechanism which by magnetism is drawn to or repelled from a magnet.
The core of a dynamo or motor which revolves within the field magnets, and which is the active principle in the generation of current by mechanical means, or in the distribution of power through electrical influence. Armatures are sometimes made of steel, and are permanent magnets. These are used in magneto-generators, telegraph instruments, and other apparatus.
Armature-bar. An armature in a dynamo or motor whose winding is made up of conductors in the form of bars.
Armature-coil. The insulated wire wound around the core of the armature of an electric current-generator or motor.
Armature-core. The central mass of iron on which the insulated wire is wound; it is rotated in the field of an electric current-generator or motor.
Armored. Protected by armor; as cables may be surrounded by a proper sheathing to guard them from injury.
Astatic. Having no magnetic directive tendency, the latter being a general consequent of the earth’s magnetism.
Astatic Circuit. (See Circuit, Astatic.)
Astatic Couple. (See Couple, Astatic.)
Astatic Needle. A combination of two magnetic needles so adjusted as to have as slight directive tendency as possible. The combination is generally made up of two needles arranged one above the other with the poles in opposite directions—commonly called “Nobili’s Pair.” These needles require but a slight electro-force to turn them one way or the other, and are used in astatic galvanometers.
Atmospheric Electricity. (See Electricity, Atmospheric.)
Atom. The ultimate particle or division of an elementary substance. Electricity is largely responsible for the presence of atoms in the atmosphere.
Atomic Attraction. The attraction of atoms for each other. Principally due to electric disturbance.
Attraction. The tendency to approach and adhere or cohere which is shown in all forms of matter. It includes gravitation, cohesion, adhesion, chemical affinity, electro-magnetic and dynamic attraction.
Aurora. A luminous electric display seen in the northern heavens. It is commonly thought to be the electric discharges of the earth into the atmosphere, due to revolution of the former and to the heat produced at the equator. As compared to the static machine for generating frictional electricity, the earth represents the revolving wheel gathering the current and discharging it at the poles.
Automatic Cut-out. An electro-magnetic switch introduced into a circuit, so as to break the circuit of the latter should it become overloaded with current; it also acts in the event of a mechanical interruption.
Automatic Regulation. A speed regulator worked by electricity so that a uniform flow of current may be secured automatically.
Ayrton’s Condenser. This is a pile of glass plates separated by small pieces of glass at the four comers, so that the plates cannot touch each other. Tin-foil is pasted on both sides of every plate, and the two coatings are connected. The tin-foil on each second plate is smaller in area than that on the others, and the plates are connected in two sets, negative and positive. In this construction it will be seen that the glass is not the dielectric proper, but acts only as the plane to which the tin-foil is pasted. One set of plates are connected to a binding-post by strips of tin-foil, and the other set are connected to another binding-post in a similar manner.
B
B. An abbreviation for Beaumé, the inventor of the hydrometer scale. Thus, in speaking of the gravity of fluids, 20° B. means twenty degrees Beaumé.
Back Induction. A demagnetizing force produced in a dynamo when a lead is given to the brushes. (See also Induction, Back.)
Back Shock. A lightning stroke received after the main discharge. It is caused by a charge induced in neighboring surfaces by the main discharge.
Bad Earth. A poor ground connection, or one having comparatively strong electrical resistance.
Balance. A proper adjustment between the apparatus and the electro-motive force, thus securing the best possible results.
B. & S. W-G. Abbreviations for Brown & Sharp and wire-gauge, and referring to the sizes of wire and sheet-metal thicknesses that are considered standards in America.
Bar-armature. An armature in which the conductors are constructed of bars.
Bar-magnet. One whose core presents the appearance of a straight bar, or rod, without curve or bend.
Bare-carbons. Electric light carbons whose surfaces are not electro-plated with copper.
Barometer. An apparatus for measuring the pressure exerted by the atmosphere. It consists of a glass tube 31 inches long, closed at one end, filled with mercury, and then inverted, with its open end immersed in a cistern of mercury. The column of mercury falls to a height proportional to the pressure of the atmosphere. At the sea-level it ranges from 30 to 31 inches.
Bar-windings. The windings of an armature constructed of copper bars.
Bath. In electro-plating, the solution or electrolyte used for depositing metal on the object to be plated. It may be a solution of copper, silver, nickel, or other metal.
In electro-therapeutics it is a bath of water with suitable electrodes and connections for treating patients with electricity.
Bath-stripping. A solution used for stripping or removing the metal plating from an object.
Batten. A strip of wood grooved longitudinally, in which electric light or power wires are set. The grooved strip is screwed to the wall, the wires being laid in the grooves, and then covered with a thin wooden strip fastened on with small nails.
Battery. A combination of parts, or elements, for the production of electrical action.
A number of cells connected parallel or in series for the generation of electricity. Under this heading there are at least one hundred different kinds. Nowadays the dynamo is the cheap and efficient generator of electricity.
Battery Cell, Elements of. The plates of zinc and carbon, or of zinc and copper, in a cell are called elements. The plate unattacked by the solution, such as the carbon or copper, is the negative element, while the one attacked and corroded by the electrolyte is the positive.
Battery, Dry. A form of open circuit cell in which the electrolyte is made practically solid, so that the cell may be placed in any position. A zinc cup is filled with the electrolyte and a carbon-rod placed in the middle, care being taken to avoid contact between cup and carbon at the bottom of the cell. The gelatinous chemical mass is then packed in closely about the carbon, so as to nearly fill the cup. A capping of asphaltum, wax, or other non-conducting and sealing material is placed over the electrolyte, and this hardens about the carbon and around the top inner edge of the zinc cup. The latter becomes the positive pole, the carbon the negative. Binding-posts, or connections, may be attached to the zinc and carbon to facilitate connections.
Battery, Galvanic. The old name for a voltaic battery.
Battery, Gravity. A battery in which the separation of fluids is obtained through their difference in specific gravity—for example, the bluestone cell. The sulphate of copper solution, being the more dense, goes to the bottom, while the zinc solution stays at the top. In its action the acid at the top corrodes the zinc, while at the bottom the solution is decomposed and deposits metallic copper on the thin copper plates.
Battery, Leclanché. An open circuit battery consisting of a jar, a porous cup, and the carbon and zinc elements, the electrolyte of which is a solution of ammonium chloride (sal-ammoniac). The carbon plate is placed in the porous cup, and packed in with a mixture of powdered manganese binoxide and graphite, to serve as a depolarizer. A half-saturated solution of sal-ammoniac is placed in the outer jar, and a rod of zinc suspended in it. Another form of the battery is to omit the porous cup and use twice the bulk of carbon, both elements being suspended in the one solution of sal-ammoniac; this form of battery is used for open-circuit work only, such as bells, buzzers, and annunciators. It is not adapted for lights, power, or plating purposes.
Battery Mud. A deposit of mud-like character which forms at the bottom of gravity batteries, and which consists of metallic copper precipitated by the zinc. It only occurs where wasteful action has taken place.
Battery of Dynamos. A term used in speaking of a number of dynamos coupled to supply the same circuit. They may be coupled in series or parallel.
Battery, Plunge. A battery in a cabinet or frame, so arranged that the active plates can be removed or raised out of the solutions. This is usually accomplished by having the plates attached to a movable frame which, by means of a ratchet-shaft and chains, can be raised or lowered. Its object is to prevent the corrosion of the plates when not in use.
Battery, Primary. A voltaic cell or battery generating electric energy by direct consumption of material. The ordinary voltaic cell, or galvanic battery, is a primary battery.
Battery, Secondary. A storage-battery, an accumulator.
Battery Solution. The active excitant liquid, or electrolyte, placed within a cell to corrode the positive element. Also called Electropoion.
Battery, Storage. A secondary battery; an accumulator; a battery which accumulates electricity generated by primary cells or a dynamo.
Battery-gauge. A galvanometer used for testing batteries and connections. It is usually small in size, and may be carried in a pocket.
Battery-jar. A glass, earthen, or lead vessel which contains the fluids and elements of each separate cell of a battery.
Baumé Hydrometer. (See Hydrometer, Baumé.)
Becquerel Ray and Radiation. An invisible ray discovered by Becquerel, which is given out by some compounds and chemicals—notably uranium—and which has the power to penetrate many opaque bodies and objects impenetrable to the actinic rays of ordinary light. These rays are used chiefly in connection with the photographic dry-plate.
Bell, Electric. A bell rung by electricity. The current excites an electro-magnet, attracting or releasing an armature which is attached to a vibrating or pivoted arm, on the end of which the knocker is fastened.
Bichromate of Potash. A strong, yellowish-red chemical, used chiefly in battery fluids and electrolytes.
Bifilar Winding. The method followed in winding resistance-coils. To prevent them from creating fields of force, the wire is doubled and the looped end started in the coil. Since the current passes in opposite senses in the two lays of the winding, no field of force is produced.
Binding. Unattached wire wound round armature-coils to hold them in place.
Binding-post. An arrangement for receiving the loose ends of wires in an electric circuit and securing them, by means of screws, so that perfect contact will be the result.
Bi-polar. Possessing two poles.
Bi-telephone. A pair of telephones arranged with a curved connecting arm or spring so that they can be simultaneously applied to both ears.
Blasting, Electric. The ignition of a blasting charge of powder, dynamite, or other high explosive by an electric spark, or by the heating, to red or white heat, of a thin wire imbedded in the explosive.
Block System. A system of signalling on railroads. Signal-posts are arranged at stated spaces, and on these signals appear automatically, showing the location of trains to the engineers of trains in the rear.
Bluestone. A trade name for sulphate of copper in a crystallized state.
Bobbin. A spool of wood or other non-conducting substance wound with insulated wire. In a tangent galvanometer the bobbin becomes a ring with a channel to receive the wire.
Boiling. In secondary, or storage, batteries the escaping of hydrogen and oxygen gases, when the battery is fully charged, resembles water boiling.
Bonded Rails. Rails used in an electric traction system, and which are linked or connected together to form a perfect circuit. Used principally in the third-rail system.
Brake, Electro-magnetic. A brake to stop the wheels of a moving car. It consists of a shoe, or ring, which by magnetic force is drawn against a rotating wheel to stop its revolution.
Branch. A conductor which leads off from a main line to distribute current locally.
Brassing. A process of electro-depositing brass in a bath containing both copper and zinc. A plate of brass is used as an anode.
Brazing, Electric. A process in which the spelter is melted by electric current, so that the two parts are united as one.
Break. A point where an electric conductor is broken, as by a switch or a cut-out.
Bridge. A special bar of copper connecting the dynamos with the bus wire in electric lighting or power stations.
Bronzing. The deposition of bronze by electro-plating methods. The mixture is of copper and tin, and a cast bronze plate is used as an anode.
Brush. A term applied to the pieces of copper, carbon, or other conducting medium in dynamos and motors, that bear against the cylindrical surface of the commutators to collect or feed in the current.
Bug. Any fault or trouble in the connections or workings of an electrical apparatus. The term originated in quadruplex telegraphy, and probably had some connection with the Edison bug-killer that he invented when a boy.
Buoy, Electric. A buoy to indicate dangerous channels in harbors and to mark wrecks and reefs. It is provided with an electric light at night, and with a gong or an electric horn by day.
Burner, Electric. A gas-burner so arranged that the flame may be lighted by electricity operated by a push-button at some distance from the fixture, or, close at hand, by means of a chain or pull-string.
Burning. In a dynamo, the improper contact of brushes and commutator, whereby a spark is produced and an arc formed which generates heat and causes the metal parts to burn.
Bus-rod. A copper conductor used in power-plants to receive the current from the battery of dynamos. The distributing leads are connected to these rods.
Butt-joint. A joint made by bringing the ends of wires together so that the ends butt. They are then soldered or brazed.
Button, Electric. A form of switch that is operated by pushing a button mounted on a suitable base. Used principally for ringing bells, operating lights, etc.
Buzzer. An electric alarm, or call, produced by the rapid vibration of an armature acted upon by electro-magnetism. The sound is magnified by enclosing the mechanism in a resonant box.
An apparatus resembling an electric bell minus the bell and clapper. The buzzer is used in places where the loud ring of a bell would be a nuisance.
C
C. An abbreviation for centigrade when speaking of thermal temperature. In chemistry the centigrade scale is used extensively, but in air temperatures the Fahrenheit scale is universally employed.
Cable, Aerial. A cable that contains a number of wires separately insulated, the entire mass being protected by an external insulation. It is suspended in the air from pole to pole, and sometimes its weight is so great that a supporting wire is carried along with it (usually overhead), the large cable being suspended from it by cable-hangers.
Cable Box. A box to receive cable ends and protect them; also, the box in which cable ends and line-wires are joined. Submarine cable boxes are usually near the ground, while telephone and telegraph cable boxes are mounted on poles, the cables running from the ground and up the poles to the boxes.
Cable-core. The conductors of a cable which make up its interior mass. For the convenience of linemen the wires are often insulated with different-colored materials so that testing is not necessary when making connections.
Cable-hanger. A metallic grip, usually of sheet metal, arranged to clasp two or more wires. It is fastened to the supporting wire by a hook and eye, or by small bolts with thumb-nuts.
Cable-head. A rectangular board equipped with binding-posts and fuse wires so that the connections may be made between the cable ends and the overhead or line-wires of a system.
Cables. An insulated electric conductor of large diameter, often protected by armor or metallic sheathing, and generally containing, or made up, of several separately insulated wires. Cables supply current to traction lines; power, through subterranean passages; communication, by submarine connection; and light, by overhead or underground conduits.
Call-bell. A bell that is rung by pressing a button, and which is operated by electricity.
Calling-drop. A drop-shutter which is worked by electricity in a telegraph or telephone exchange; it denotes the location from which the call was sent in. Small red incandescent lamps have taken the place of the drops in most of the large telephone exchanges, for they are noiseless and do not annoy the operators as the drops and buzzers did.
Candle-power. The amount of light given by the standard candle. The legal English and American standard is a sperm candle burning two grains a minute.
Candle, Standard. The standard of illuminating power; a flame which consumes two grains of sperm wax per minute, and produces a light of a brightness equal to one candle-power.
Caoutchouc. India-rubber. So named because originally its chief use was to erase or rub off pencil marks. It is a substance existing, in a thick fluid state, in the sap or juices of certain tropical trees and vines; it possesses a very high value as an insulator for wire and circuits. The unworked, crude rubber is called virgin gum, but after it is kneaded it is called masticated or pure gum rubber.
Capacity. A term used when speaking of the carrying power of a wire or circuit. The capacity of a wire, rod, bar, or other conductor is sufficient so long as the current does not heat it. Directly electric heat is generated, we speak of the conductor as being overloaded or having its capacity overtaxed.
Capacity of a Telegraph Conductor. The electric capacity may be identical in quality with that of any other conductor. In quantity it varies not only in different wires, but for the same wire under different conditions. A wire reacting through the surrounding air, or other dielectric, upon the earth represents one element of a condenser, the earth in general representing the other. A wire placed near the earth has greater capacity than one strung upon high poles, although the wires may be of identical length and size and of the same metal. The effect of high capacity is to retard the transmission of current, the low capacity facilitates transmission.
Capacity, Storage. In secondary batteries, the quantity of electric current they can supply, when fully charged, without exhaustion. This capacity is measured or reckoned in ampere-hours.
Carbon. One of the elements in graphitic form used as an electric-current conductor. It is the only substance which conducts electricity, and which cannot be melted with comparative ease by increase of current. It exists in three modifications—charcoal, graphite, and the diamond. In its graphitic form it is used as an electro-current conductor, as in batteries and arc-light electrodes, and as filaments in incandescent lamps. In arc-lamp use the carbons are usually electro-plated on the outside with a film of copper which acts as a better conductor.
Carbon, Artificial. Carbon-dust, powdered coke, or gas carbon is mixed with molasses, coal-tar, syrup, or some similar carbonaceous fluid, so that the mass is plastic. It can then be moulded or pressed into shapes, and heated to full redness for several hours by artificial or electric heat. For lamp-carbons the mixture is forced through a round die by heavy pressure, and is cut into suitable lengths, then fired or baked.
After removing and cooling, the carbons are sometimes dipped again into the fluid used for cementing the original mass and re-ignited. This process is termed “nourishing.” All carbon is a resisting medium, but at high temperature the resistance is only about one-third as great; that is, the current will pass through a red-hot carbon three times better than through the cold carbon; or a current of thirty amperes will be conducted as easily through a hot carbon as ten amperes through a cold one.
Carbon-cored. A carbon for arc-lamps, the core being of softer carbon than the outer surface. It is supposed to give a steadier light, and fixes the position of the arc.
Carbon-dioxide. A compound gas, or carbonic-acid gas. It is a dielectric.
Carbon-holders. In arc-lamps, the clamps arranged to hold the carbon-pencils.
Carbonization. The ignition of an organic substance in a closed vessel, so as to expel all constituents from it except the carbon.
A destructive distillation.
Carbon Resistance. (See Resistance, Carbon.)
Carbon Volatilization. In arc-lamps the heat is so intense that it is believed a part of the carbon-pencil is volatilized, as vapor, before being burned or oxidized by the oxygen of the air.
Carbons, Bare. (See Bare Carbons.)
Carrying Capacity. In a current-conductor, its carrying capacity up to the heating-point. It is expressed in amperes.
Cascade. The arrangement of a series of Leyden-jars in properly insulated stools, or supports, for accumulating frictional electricity. They are arranged in a manner somewhat similar to a battery of galvanic cells, the inner coating of one being connected to the outer coating of the next, and so on through the series.
Case-hardening, Electric. A process by which the surface of iron is converted into steel by applying a proper carbonaceous material to it while it is being heated by an electric current.
Cautery, Electric. An electro-surgical appliance for removing diseased parts or arresting hemorrhages. It takes the place of the knife or other cutting instrument. It is a loop of platinum wire heated to whiteness by an electric current.
C.C. An abbreviation commonly used for cubic-centimeter. It is usually written in small letters, as 50 c.c., meaning 50 cubic-centimeters.
Cell, Electrolytic. A vessel containing the electrolyte used for electro-plating.
Cell, Regenerated. A cell restored to its proper functions by a process of recharging.
Cell, Standard. Meaning the same as battery. The vessel, including its contents, in which electricity is generated.
Cell, Storage. Two plates of metal, or compounds of metal, whose chemical relations are changed by the passage of an electric current from one plate to the other through an electrolyte in which they are immersed.
Cements, Electrical. Cements of a non-conducting nature, such as marine glue and sticky compounds, used in electrical work.
Centrifugal Force. A diametric revolving force which throws a body away from its axis of rotation. A merry-go-round is a simple example of this force. The more rapidly the platform revolves the greater the tendency for those on it to be thrown off and out from the centre. The high velocity attained by the armatures in motors and dynamos would throw the wires out of place and cause them to rub against the surfaces of the field-magnets. Consequently, wire bands or binders are necessary to keep the coils of wire from spreading under the influence of the centrifugal force.
Charge. The quantity of electricity that is present on the surface of a body or conductor.
The component chemical parts that are employed to excite the elements of a cell in generating electric current.
Charge, Residual. After a Leyden-jar, or other condenser, has been discharged by the ordinary methods, a second discharge (of less amount) can be had after a few minutes’ waiting. This is due to what is known as the residual charge, and is connected in some way with the molecular distortion of the dielectric.
Chemical Change. When bodies unite so as to satisfy affinity, or to bring about the freeing of thermal or other energy, the union is usually accompanied by sensible heat or light. Sulphuric acid added to water produces heat; a match in burning produces light. Another form of chemical change is decomposition or separation (the reverse of combination), such as takes place in the voltaic-battery, the electro-plating bath, and other forms of electrolysis. This is not accompanied by heat or light, but by the evolution of electricity.
Chemical Element. (See Element, Chemical.)
Chemistry. The science which treats of the atomic and molecular relations of the elements and their chemical compounds. Chemistry is divided into many departments, but electro-chemistry treats only of the science wherein electricity plays an active part, such as batteries, electro-plating, and electro-metallurgy.
Choking-coil. (See Coil, Choking.)
Circle, Magic. A form of electro-magnet. It is a thick circle of round iron used in connection with a magnetized coil to illustrate electro-magnetic attraction.
Circuit. A conducting-path for electric currents. Properly speaking, a complete circuit has the ends joined, and includes a source of current, an apparatus, and other elements introduced in the path. When the circuit is complete it is called active. The term circuit is also applied to portions of a true circuit—as, an internal or external circuit.
Circuit, Astatic. A circuit so wound, with reference to the direction of the currents passing through it, that the terrestrial or other lines of force have no directive effect upon it.
Circuit-breaker. Any apparatus for opening and closing a circuit, such as switches, automatic cut-outs, lightning-arresters, and the like.
A ratchet-wheel engaged with a spring, or wire, which rests against the teeth. The current passes through the wire, the wheel, and axle. The wheel is revolved by a crank, and as the ratchets pass the spring, or wire, an instantaneous make-and-break occurs. The speed of the wheel regulates the frequency of the interruptions.
Circuit, External. A portion of the circuit not included within the generator, such as a secondary telegraph key and sounder.
Circuit, Grounded. A circuit in which the ground is used as a conductor. This is common in telegraph and telephone lines, particularly for short distances where the conductivity of the earth does not offer too much resistance.
Circuit, Incandescent. A circuit in which incandescent lamps are installed.
Circuit Indicator. A pocket-compass, galvanometer, or other device for indicating or detecting the condition of a wire, whether it is active or dead, and, if active, in which direction the current is flowing. It may also give a general idea of its strength.
Circuit, Internal. That portion of an electric circuit which is included within the generator.
Circuit Loop. A minor circuit introduced, in series, into another circuit by a switch or cut-out, so that it becomes a part of the main circuit.
Circuit, Main. a circuit or main line, includes the apparatus supplying current to it. Thus distinguished from a local circuit.
Circuit, Metallic. A circuit in which the current outside the generator passes through metal parts or wire, but not through the ground. Electric light and power lines are always metallic circuits. An electro-plating apparatus may be properly termed a metallic circuit, although a part of the circuit is formed by the electrolyte in the bath. The essential meaning of the words metallic circuit is that the earth does not form a part of the return circuit.
Circuit, Open. A circuit in which a switch has been opened to prevent the continuous flow of current, such as an electric-bell circuit, which normally remains open, and which is active only when the push-button is pressed, thereby closing the circuit and operating the bell. An open-circuit battery is one that remains inactive when the circuit is open.
Circuit, Parallel. A term signifying a multiple circuit.
Circuit, Quadruple. A single circuit capable of having four messages transmitted over it simultaneously—two in one direction, and two in the other.
Circuit, Return. In telegraphy the ground is used as the return circuit. It is also that portion of a circuit which leads from an apparatus back to the terminal of a dynamo or battery, usually the negative wire.
Circuit, Short. A connection between two parts of a circuit, causing the current to skip a great part of its appointed path. Short-circuits prevent the proper working of any electrical apparatus.
Circuit, Simple. A circuit containing a single generator, the proper wire for carrying the current, and a switch to operate it. An electric-bell line, a single telegraph line, or a direct telephone line are all simple circuits.
Clamp. A tool for grasping and holding the ends of wires while joining them.
The appliance for holding the carbon-pencils in arc-lamps.
Cleats. Blocks of wood, porcelain, or other insulating material used to hold wires against a wall or beam. They have one, two, and three notches at one side, for single, double, and three wire systems.
Clutch, Electric. A form of magnetic brake applied to car-wheels, the armatures of motors, and other revolving mechanism, whereby the current, passing through a coil, magnetizes a mass of cast-iron, and brings it to bear frictionally upon the moving parts of the mechanism.
Code, Cipher. A set of disconnected words which, in accordance with a prearranged key, stand for whole sentences and phrases. Commercially the system is used as a short-cut—ten words perhaps meaning what otherwise it would take forty or fifty words to express. It is used extensively in telegraphy, both as an abbreviated message and as a means for securing secrecy.
Coherer. Conducting particles constituting a semi-conducting bridge between two electrodes, and serving to detect electro-magnetic waves. The coherer in wireless telegraphy is understood to mean that form of radio-receiver which, being normally at high resistance, is, under the influence of Hertzian-waves, changed to a low resistance, thus becoming relatively a conductor. Tubes of various kinds have been used for this purpose. Within them is a filling of carbon granules, copper filings, nickel and silver filings, and other substances. Marconi’s coherer consists of a tube one and one-half inches long and one-twelfth inch internal diameter. This is filled with filings—90 per cent. of nickel, 10 per cent. of silver. A globule of mercury coats the outer surface of each grain with a thin film of the quicksilver. Into both ends a piece of pure silver wire is plugged. These latter are a quarter of an inch long, and fit the tube very accurately. The tube is thus sealed, and it is considered preferable to have a slight vacuum within it.
Coil. A strand of wire wound in circular form about a spool, a soft-iron core, or in layers, as a coil of rope.
An electro-magnetic generator.
A helix. (See also Induction, Resistance, Magnetizing.)
Coil, Choking. A form of resistance to regulate the flow of current. Any coil of insulated wire wound upon a laminated or divided iron core forms a choking-coil. In alternating-current work special choking-coils are used. They have a movable iron core, and by thrusting it in or out the power is increased or diminished, thus raising or lowering the lights, the same as gas is regulated.
Coil, Faradic. The name given to a medical induction-coil or faradic machine.
Coil, Induction. A coil in which the electro-motive force of a portion of a circuit is, by induction, made to produce higher or lower electro-motive forces in an adjacent circuit, or in a circuit a part of which adjoins the original circuit. There are three principal parts to all induction-coils—the core, the primary coil, and the secondary coil. The core is a mass of soft iron, cast or wrought, but preferably divided—for example, a bundle of rods or bars. The primary coil of comparatively larger wire is wound about this core, each layer being properly insulated and varnished, or coated with melted paraffine, to bind the wires. The secondary coil is of fine wire, and is wound about the primary coil. A great many turns of the fine wire are necessary, and care must be taken to properly insulate each layer and shellac the wires. The primary must be well insulated from the secondary coil, so as to prevent sparking, which would destroy the insulation. A make-and-break is operated by the primary coil, and is constructed upon the general form of an electric bell or buzzer movement. Extra currents which interfere with the action of an induction-coil are avoided by the use of a condenser. (See also Condenser.) The induction-coil produces a rapid succession of sparks which may spring across a gap of thirty or forty inches, according to the size of the coil. Induction-coils are used extensively in electric work, especially in telephone transmitters, wireless telegraphy, electric welding, and in the alternating-current system.