Miscellaneous Experiments and Remarks on Electricity, the Air-Pump, and the Barometer; With the Description of an Electrometer of a New Construction

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1797. Excerpt: ... W EXPERIMENT I. 'ITH a battery of nine bottles, containing about sixteen square feet of coated surface, charged to thirty-two grains of repulsion, which charge was sent through a piece of steel wire twelve inches long, one hundredth of an inch thick, eleven times, when it was shortened one inch and a half, being then about ten inches and a half long; the twelfth time, the wire was melted to pieces. E2 EXPERIMENT EXPERIMENT II. A charge, with the same nine bottles, to thirty-two grains of repulsion, being sent through a piece of fteel wire twelve inches long and one hundred and seventieth of an inch thick, the first time melted the whole of it into small globules. EXPERIMENT III. A charge of the same nine bottles charged to thirty-two grains, being sent through a piece of brass wire twelve inches long, one hundred and seventieth of an inch thick, the whole of it was melted, with much smoke, almost like gunpowder, but the metallic part of it after it was melted, formed itself, in cooling, chiefly into concave hemispherical figures of various sizes. EXPERIMENT IV. With only eight of the above bottles charged to thirty-two grains, the charge did but just melt twelve inches of the Jleel wire one hundred dred and seventieth of an inch thick, so as to fall into several pieces, which pieces in cool ing, formed themselves into oblong lumps joining to each other by a very small part of the wire between each lump, which was not melted enough to separate, but appeared like oblong beads on a thread at different distances. EXPERIMENT V. The same eight bottles charged to thirtytwo grains, so perfectly heated twelve inches of brass wire, about one hundred and seventieth of an inch thick, as to melt it, or soften it enough for it to fall down by its own weight (from the f...