An old engraving of a machine for observing electrical discharge in rarefied air in Victorian times. It is from a book of the 1890s on discoveries and inventions during the 1800s. Here the discharge from a coil (right) into the vessel (right) could produce glowing halos (mainly red or blue) and flashes of light from the terminals. The phenomena connected with the discharge of electricity in rarefied gases were observed after the invention, in mid-17th century, of the air pump and the static electrical machine. The colourful displays usually were attributed to chemical changes in the gas.
An old engraving of a machine for observing electrical discharge in rarefied air in Victorian times. It is from a book of the 1890s on discoveries and inventions during the 1800s. Here the discharge from a coil (right) into the vessel (right) could produce glowing halos (mainly red or blue) and flashes of light from the terminals. The phenomena connected with the discharge of electricity through rarefied gases were observed shortly after the invention, in mid-17th century, of the air pump and the static electrical machine. The colourful displays usually were attributed to chemical changes occurring in the gas and often were regarded mainly as curiosities to be demonstrated in public by amateur investigators. In the late 1830s, Michael Faraday’s experiments on electrical discharge in attenuated gases gave a new prominence to the subject.
Size: 2720px × 3307px
Location: UK
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1800s, 19th, air, apparatus, black, british, century, coil, create, current, dc, direct, discharge, early, electrical, electricity, electrics, engraving, equipment, faraday, flash, gas, gaseous, gases, glass, glow, historical, history, hundreds, illustration, industrial, industry, inert, light, machine, machinery, mechanical, nineteenth, pressure, rarefied, rarified, revolution, spark, terminal, terminals, uk, vessel, victorian, white, work
