Michael Faraday is an English chemist and experimental physicist. The author of the theory of the electromagnetic field discovered electromagnetic induction, the basis of the industrial production of electricity.
Several scientific concepts are named after Faraday, asteroid, lunar crater, units of measurement of electrical capacity and electric charge in electrochemistry. Humanity will not forget it as long as it uses electricity.
The path to the vocation
Michael Faraday's biography began in 1791 in the English village of Southwark. The future scientist was born into the family of a blacksmith on September 22. To help his parents raise his brother and two sisters, the boy started working at the age of thirteen, leaving school. The messenger in the bookstore continued to be educated by reading books.
The young man set up experiments. He built the Leiden Bank himself. A nineteen-year-old guy in 1810 entered the science club, where he listened to lectures of interest to him. A talented young man received the right to attend classes of the discoverer of electrochemistry, Humphry Davy.
The young man transcribed what he had heard, intertwined and sent his work to the professor in the hope of getting a job. The expectations were met. Michael began working as a laboratory assistant at the age of 22. He continued to attend lectures, often took part in their preparation.
With the consent of Davy, Faraday conducted his own chemical experiments. Diligence and amazing conscientiousness made the assistant an indispensable person for the professor. In 1813 Davy transferred Michael to the position of his secretary. A couple of years later, Faraday was offered the honorary position of assistant professor. Experiments continued at the same time.
In total, scientists have performed 30,000 experiments. A description of each was recorded in a diary. All of these recordings were published in full in 1931.
Scientific activity
The first collection was published in 1816. By 1819, 40 works devoted to chemistry by the "king of experiments" had already been published.
Thanks to numerous experiments with alloys, a young physicist in 1820 discovered the prevention of oxidation by adding nickel to steel. The industry was not interested in the novelty at that time. It was only much later that the discovery of stainless steel was patented. Michael in 1820 as Technical Superintendent of the Royal Institution.
The experimenter, quite well-known in the scientific world, was engaged in physics since 1821. He was already quite famous in the scientific community. He published his work on the principle of operation of an electric motor. Experiments on the interaction of a magnetic field with electricity began.
Faraday's work "On some new electromagnetic motions and on the theory of magnetism" was published. In his work, the experimenter described experiments with the conversion of electricity and mechanical with the help of a magnetic needle.
The world's first electric motor was introduced. In early 1824, the young experimenter was included in the Royal Society of London. Several interesting discoveries in the field of chemistry were made in 1824.
Significant works
The experimenter was elected director of the laboratory of chemistry and physics at the Royal Institution in 1825. Beginning in 1821, he did not publish any work. Professor Woolwich in 1833 became professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution. For the first time, mention of magnetism as a possible cause of the occurrence of electric current appeared in the scientist's diary entries in 1822. For a decade, the mystery of electromagnetic induction was solved empirically.
On August 23, 1831, the newest device was constructed, which became the basis for an ingenious discovery: an iron ring with multiple turns of copper wire wound on both halves. A magnetic needle was located in the circuit with a closed wire of one of the parts of the ring. The second part of the device was connected to the battery. When the current was connected, the arrow was deflected in one direction, when disconnected, in the opposite direction.
The experimenter concluded that it is possible to convert magnetism into electricity by a magnet. An electric generator was created on the basis of electromagnetic induction. Empirically, it was possible to prove the unity of the nature of the appearance of electricity, regardless of the method of occurrence of electric current.
In 1832, the scientist received the Copley medal. The experimenter invented the first transformer, discovered the concept of dielectric constant. Experimentally in 1836 it was confirmed that the current charge affects only the shell of the conductor. The objects inside it remained intact. The device created on the principle of the phenomenon was called the Faraday cage.
Summarizing
In 1845, the Faraday effect was discovered, that is, a change in the plane of polarized light in a magnetic field, as well as the phenomenon of diamagnetism. The experimenter, at the request of the government of the country, was developing a program for equipping lighthouses, ways to combat corrosion of ship metal, and acted as a forensic expert. The famous physicist and chemist left the business in 1858.
The experimenter also arranged his personal life. Officially, he and Sarah Barnard became husband and wife in 1821. A modest ceremony took place on June 12th. Not a single child appeared in the family.
In 1862, the experimenter proposed a hypothetical theory of the motion of spectral lines in a magnetic field. It was scientifically confirmed in 1897 by Peter Seelman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Faraday wrote to this day republished children's lectures entitled "The History of the Candle" in 1865. The scientist passed away in 1867, on August 25.
His portrait was placed on a twenty-pound note. Schools, colleges and prestigious awards are named in honor of the scientist.
