etymology of electricity

8/9/2019 Etymology of Electricity

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! References

" E#ternal lin$s

Historical drift

Pre-English originsThe New Latin adjective electricus , originally meaning of amber , was first used to refer toamber s attractive properties by !illiam "ilbert in his #$%% te&t 'e (agnete . The term camefrom the classical Latin electrum , amber, from the "ree) *elektron +, amber . #- Theorigin of the "ree) word is un)nown, but there is speculation that it might have come from ahoenician word elkrn , meaning shining light . The letter / was used for electric chargeinstead of the letter 0 because the letter was already used to represent the electron. citation needed -

Entry into English

The word electric was first used by 1rancis 2acon to describe materials li)e amber that attractedother objects. #- 3- The first usage of the 0nglish word electricity is ascribed to Sir Thomas2rowne in his #$4$ wor), Pseudodoxia Epidemica 5

6gain, The concretion of Ice will not endure a dry attrition without liquation7 for if it be rubbedlong with a cloth, it melteth. 2ut 8rystal will calefie unto electricity7 that is, a power to attractstrawes and light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed

% Pseudodoxia Epidemica & 1st edition& p. '1 !

In this conte&t, an 90lectric)9 or 90lectric) body9 was a non:conductor, or an object capable ofattracting 9light bodies9 *li)e bits of paper + when e&cited by friction 7 a piece of amber is 9an0lectric)9, while a piece of iron is not. 90lectricity9, then, was simply the property of behavingli)e an electric, in the same way that 9 elasticity 9 is the property of behaving li)e an elastic . 4- *90lectric9 continued to be used as a noun until at least #;#< =- and is still used in this sense inthe word 9 dielectric 9.+

It was not until later that the definition shifted to refer to the cause of the attraction instead of the property of being attractive. 4- $-

C ar!e , in the electrical sense, was first used in #>$>. >-

The term "uantity o# electricity was once common in scientific publications. It appears frequentlyin the writings of 1ran)lin , 1araday , (a&well , (illi)an , and ?. ?. Thomson , and was evenoccasionally used by 0instein .

@owever, over the last hundred years the term 9 electricity 9 has been used by electric utilitycompanies and the general public in a non:scientific way. Today the vast majority of publicationsno longer refer to electricity as meaning electric charge. Instead they spea) of electricity as
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Latinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilbert_(astronomer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilbert_(astronomer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilbert_(astronomer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Magnetehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Magnetehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-ReferenceA-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-ReferenceA-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-ReferenceA-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-ReferenceA-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Brownehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Brownehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudodoxia_Epidemicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartzhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calefiehttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calefiehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versoriumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasticity_(physics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastomerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-Heathcote-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-Heathcote-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectrichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-Heathcote-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faradayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Millikanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Thomsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Latinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilbert_(astronomer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Magnetehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-ReferenceA-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-ReferenceA-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Brownehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Brownehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudodoxia_Epidemicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartzhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calefiehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versoriumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasticity_(physics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastomerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-Heathcote-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectrichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-Heathcote-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faradayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Millikanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Thomsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity


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electromagnetic energy . The definition has drifted even further, and many authors now use theword 9electricity9 to mean electric current *amperes +, energy flow * watts +,electrical potential *volts +, or electric force. Athers refer to any electrical phenomena as )inds of electricity.

These multiple definitions are probably the reason that /uantity of 0lectricity has fallen into

disfavor among scientists. hysics te&tboo)s no longer define /uantity of 0lectricity or 1low of0lectricity. /uantity of electricity is now regarded as an archaic usage, and it has slowly beenreplaced by the terms charge of electricity , then quantity of electric charge , and today simplycharge . Since the term electricity has increasingly become corrupted by contradictions andunscientific definitions, today s e&perts instead use the term c ar!e to remove any possibleconfusion.

Conceptual pro lems *his article+s tone or style may not refect the encyclopedic tone usedon Wikipedia . ,ee i$ipedia+s guide to riting etter articles for

suggestions. (December 2007)'espite their similarities, substituting the word 9charge9 for 9electricity9 presents new problems.Alder scientific papers still e&ist, and their authors constantly discuss quantities of electricity andflows of electricity *meaning charge and current respectively.+ Those historical authors )now thattheir readers understand just one definition5 the term electricity means c ar!e and nothing else.(odern students who read physics papers from periods prior to #;


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electricity9 in place of 9electric charge9 in most of its definitions. ;- 8hemistry students will befamiliar

6side from the properties described in articles about electromagnetism , charge is a relativistic invariant . This means that any particle that has charge Q, no matter how fast it goes, always has

charge Q. This property has been e&perimentally verified by showing that the charge of one helium nucleus *two protons and two neutrons bound together in a nucleus and moving around athigh speeds+ is the same as t'o deuterium nuclei *one proton and one neutron bound together,

but moving much more slowly than they would if they were in a helium nucleus+. citation needed -

Conser/ation of electric charge0ain article Charge conser/ation

The total electric charge of an isolated system remains constant regardless of changes within thesystem itself. This law is inherent to all processes )nown to physics and can be derived in a localform from gauge invariance of the wave function . The conservation of charge results in thecharge:current continuity equation . (ore generally, the net change in charge density within avolume of integration ( is equal to the area integral over the current density J through the closedsurface ) E F( , which is in turn equal to the net current * 5

Thus, the conservation of electric charge, as e&pressed by the continuity equation, gives theresult5

The charge transferred between times and is obtained by integrating both sides5

where * is the net outward current through a closed surface and Q is the electric charge containedwithin the volume defined by the surface.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_invariancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_nucleushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_nucleushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuteriumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolated_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_invariancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_invariancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_functionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_functionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_equationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_densityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_densityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_currenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_electricity#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_invariancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_nucleushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuteriumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_conservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolated_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_invariancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_functionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_equationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_densityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_densityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_current

etymology of electricity

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