. Electricity simplified. The practice and theory of electricity ... e as a representation of the operations. The inclined path may be assumed to represent aroad down which a carriage rolls. The broad linesrepresent a good road, the narrow lines a bad one. ANALOGIES OF CIRCUIT. 67 To maintain a constant speed, it is evident that theinclination must vary with the quality of the , the carriage will use up more or less of itsenergy of descent according to the quality of thetrack it follows, provided it is compelled, as is theelectric current, to maintain a constant rate. After going down
. Electricity simplified. The practice and theory of electricity ... e as a representation of the operations. The inclined path may be assumed to represent aroad down which a carriage rolls. The broad linesrepresent a good road, the narrow lines a bad one. ANALOGIES OF CIRCUIT. 67 To maintain a constant speed, it is evident that theinclination must vary with the quality of the , the carriage will use up more or less of itsenergy of descent according to the quality of thetrack it follows, provided it is compelled, as is theelectric current, to maintain a constant rate. After going down the incline, thereby expendingits potential energy, the carriage has to be restored toits original position to repeat its course. This re-quires it to be raised up the vertical, which corre-sponds to the work of the battery in raising the fixedquantity of electricity back to its starting-point. The analogy is imperfect unless a series of car-riages, balls, or wheels perpetually going around thecircuit is thought of. The flow of an electric cur-rent is Fig. A spiral line such as shown in the cut may betaken to indicate the fall of potential in a system; the 68 ELECTRICITY SIMPLIFIED. work of the battery will be represented by the verti-cal line. As the battery raises the potential, it isexpended in the descent of the current down thespiral grade. Mechanical rate of work is measured by foot-pounds per minute, or by any other unit involvingheight, weight, and time. Electrical rate of work ismeasured by a unit involving potential difference,quantity of electricity, and time. Thus, taking theunits we have been using, we have as a rate of workunit a volt-coulomb per second, which is the sameas a volt-ampere. A mechanical horse-power is 550 foot-pounds persecond; an electrical horse-power is 746 volt-cou-lombs per second, which is the same as 746 volt-amperes. The energy carried by a wire may seem an intan-gible thing, but it can be determined by a methodsimple in princi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidel, booksubjectelectricity
