Electromagnetic rotation (the first electric motor) (1821)
A wire carrying current rotated around a magnet, converting electrical energy into motion
Science · Physics
Michael Faraday
1791–1867 · English
Electromagnetism and electrochemistry
Michael Faraday, a blacksmith's son with little formal schooling, rose from bookbinder's apprentice to Humphry Davy's assistant and became the Royal Institution's most famous scientist. He discovered electromagnetic induction, made the first electric motor and dynamo effects, formulated the laws of electrolysis and introduced the idea of lines of force and fields. He also isolated benzene and began the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
How to spot them
- ▸Apprentice bookbinder who attended Humphry Davy's lectures and became his assistant
- ▸Electromagnetic induction (1831); the Faraday cage; the Faraday effect
- ▸Royal Institution Christmas Lectures; The Chemical History of a Candle
- ▸Coined anode, cathode, electrode and ion; the farad and the Faraday constant
- ▸Pictured on the Bank of England £20 note (1991–2001)
Key discoveries & works
Discovery of electromagnetic induction (1831)
A changing magnetic field induces a current; the basis of the dynamo, generator and transformer
Isolation of benzene (1825)
Identified in oily residue from illuminating gas, which he called 'bicarburet of hydrogen'
Laws of electrolysis (1833–1834)
The amount of substance deposited is proportional to the charge passed
Magneto-optical rotation of polarised light (1845)
A magnetic field rotates the plane of polarised light in glass, showing light and magnetism are linked
The Chemical History of a Candle (1860–61)
Celebrated Christmas Lectures for young people, published as a book
Experimental Researches in Electricity (1839–1855)
Collected volumes of his electrical papers
Key ideas
- Lines of force and the field concept, later given mathematical form by James Clerk Maxwell
- Faraday's law of induction: induced voltage depends on the rate of change of magnetic flux
- A closed conducting shell screens its interior from external electric fields (the Faraday cage)
- Diamagnetism: all substances respond to magnetic fields, some by being repelled
Quick-fire facts
- •Born on 22 September 1791 at Newington Butts, Surrey; died at Hampton Court on 25 August 1867
- •Became Davy's assistant at the Royal Institution in 1813 and toured Europe with him
- •Liquefied chlorine in 1823 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1824
- •Began the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1825 and became its first Fullerian Professor of Chemistry in 1833
- •Coined electrolysis terms including anode, cathode, electrode and ion, with advice from William Whewell
- •A devout Sandemanian, he declined a knighthood and the presidency of the Royal Society
- •Buried in Highgate Cemetery
- •Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall
Drill it — 8 cards
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Sources
- MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews — Michael Faraday
- L. Pearce Williams — Michael Faraday