. Electricity simplified. The practice and theory of electricity ... b 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 principle. When a wire carries a current,the fall of potential between its ends is determinedby regular methods, as is also the current which goesthrough it. By multiplying the fall of potential bythe current, the electric
. Electricity simplified. The practice and theory of electricity ... b 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 principle. When a wire carries a current,the fall of potential between its ends is determinedby regular methods, as is also the current which goesthrough it. By multiplying the fall of potential bythe current, the electric energy absorbed by the wireis ascertained. The heat energy correspondingthereto is ascertained by placing the conductor in awater or other calorimeter and determining theamount of heat units produced. On this or on a similar basis the efficiency of dyna-mos and other generators is ascertained. The energy CALORIMETER. 09 supplied to a mechanical generator, such as a dy-namo, is determined in mechanical units such ashorse-powers. Then, it being known how many elec-. Fig. 10.—Calorimeter. trical units correspond thereto and how many thedynamo produces, its efficiency is at once given. The Chemistry of the Current, An electrolyte is a liquid which is decomposible bythe electric current and which necessarily is a con-ductor of electricity. An electric current which has an electrolyte in-cluded in its circuit effects a chemical decompositionof the electrolyte if the conditions are proper, oradapted for such action. These conditions are ab- 70 ELECTRICITY SIMPLIFIED. solutely definite, and the decomposition can beexactly predicated of any given set of conditions. In a battery we see a decomposition effected, andthe same action can be produced in another solutionby a current produced by a battery or by any othermeans. It is easily illustrated in the experimentalway by cutting a conductor at the desired place, andimmersing its ends in the electrolyte. The electro-lyte is decomposed i
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