Joule was an Englishman, and in 1842 began investigating the relation between mechanical energy and heat. He first showed that, by allowing a weight to drop from a considerable height and turn a paddle wheel in water, the temperature of the water would increase in relation to the work done in turning the wheel. It is now known that 778 foot-pounds (1 lb. falling 778 feet, 10 lbs. falling 77.8 feet or 778 lbs. falling one foot, etc.) is the mechanical equivalent of energy equal to raising one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. The rate of energy (power) is the energy divided by a unit of time; thus one horsepower is 33,000 foot-pounds per minute. Joule next investigated the relation between heat and electric current. He made a device consisting of a vessel of water in which there were a thermometer and an insulated coil of wire having a considerable resistance. He found that an electric current heated the water, and making many combinations of the amount and length of time of current flowing and of the resistance of the wire, he deduced the law that the energy in an electric circuit is proportional to the square of the amount of current flowing multiplied by the length of time and multiplied by the resistance of the wire.
The rate of electrical energy (electric power) is therefore proportional to the square of current multiplied by the resistance. The electrical unit of power is now called the Watt, named in honor of James Watt, the Englishman, who made great improvements to the steam engine about a century ago. Thus, watts = C2R and substituting the value of R from Ohm’s law, C = E/R, we get
Watts = Volts × Amperes
The watt is a small unit of electric power, as can be seen from the fact that 746 watts are equal to one horsepower. The kilowatt, kilo being the Greek word for thousand, is 1000 watts.
This term is an important one in the electrical industry. For example, dynamos are rated in kilowatts, expressed as KW; the largest one made so far is 50,000 KW which is 66,666 horsepower. Edison’s first commercial dynamo had a capacity of 6 KW although the terms watts and kilowatts were not in use at that time. The ordinary sizes of incandescent lamps now used in the home are 25, 40 and 50 watts.
STARR’S INCANDESCENT LAMP
Starr’s Incandescent Lamp, 1845.
This consisted of a short carbon pencil operating in the vacuum above a column of mercury.
J. W. Starr, an American, of Cincinnati, Ohio, assisted financially by Peabody, the philanthropist, went to England where he obtained a patent in 1845 on the lamps he had invented, although the patent was taken out under the name of King, his attorney. One is of passing interest only. It consisted of a strip of platinum, the active length of which could be adjusted to fit the battery strength used, and was covered by a glass globe to protect it from draughts of air. The other, a carbon lamp, was the first real contribution to the art. It consisted of a rod of carbon operating in the vacuum above a column of mercury (Torrecellium vacuum) as in a barometer. A heavy platinum wire was sealed in the upper closed end of a large glass tube, and connected to the carbon rod by an iron clamp. The lower end of the carbon rod was fastened to another iron clamp, the two clamps being held in place and insulated from each other by a porcelain rod. Attached to the lower clamp was a long copper wire. Just below the lower clamp, the glass tube was narrowed down and had a length of more than 30 inches. The tube was then filled with mercury, the bottom of the tube being put into a vessel partly full of mercury. The mercury ran out of the enlarged upper part of the tube, coming to rest in the narrow part of the tube as in a barometer, so that the carbon rod was then in a vacuum. One lamp terminal was the platinum wire extending through the top of the tube, and the other was the mercury. Several of these lamps were put on exhibition in London, but were not a commercial success as they blackened very rapidly. Starr started his return trip to the United States the next year, but died on board the ship when he was but 25 years old.