Where Do Units Come from?
The Volt
Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta was the father of the volt. He was born in Italy. He made the first cell in the 1800s. The cell that he made was not really a battery, but it was the most advanced attempt of making a battery in his time, it produced a steady electrical current, but did not work well over time; it was called the Voltaic pile. The voltaic pile was made of two electrodes of zinc and copper and sulphuric acid as the electrolyte. His name is used as the SI unit of electric potential. The volt is named after him in honour of making the first chemical battery.
The Ohm
Georg Simon Ohm was the father of the Ohm. He was born in Bavaria and taught at a lot of universities and schools. While he was teaching at a bad school in Bamberg, he decided to prove that he was better than that by writing a geometry book. He later went onto, in 1827, to write and publish a book about a circuit that he had made called, ‘The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically.’ He put everything he knew about electricity into this book. He wrote about how the electromotive force at one point in the circuit is the product of the strength of the current and the resistance of that part in the circuit. His name is used for the SI unit ohm; to measure electrical resistance.
The Watt
James Watt was a Scottish mechanical engineer and inventor. He revolutionised steam engines by making a design enhancement to the normal steam train design which stopped trains from having to heat and cool cylinders too fast. He was having financial difficulties, but he ended them by joining a partnership with Matthew Boulton. After he made the separate condenser that reduced the amount of rapid heating and cooling the then went on to make more design changes to train engines. He also started the concept of horsepower. His name is used for the SI unit of watts; to measure power.
The Farad
James Faraday was an English chemist and he was born on
Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta was the father of the volt. He was born in Italy. He made the first cell in the 1800s. The cell that he made was not really a battery, but it was the most advanced attempt of making a battery in his time, it produced a steady electrical current, but did not work well over time; it was called the Voltaic pile. The voltaic pile was made of two electrodes of zinc and copper and sulphuric acid as the electrolyte. His name is used as the SI unit of electric potential. The volt is named after him in honour of making the first chemical battery.
The Ohm
Georg Simon Ohm was the father of the Ohm. He was born in Bavaria and taught at a lot of universities and schools. While he was teaching at a bad school in Bamberg, he decided to prove that he was better than that by writing a geometry book. He later went onto, in 1827, to write and publish a book about a circuit that he had made called, ‘The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically.’ He put everything he knew about electricity into this book. He wrote about how the electromotive force at one point in the circuit is the product of the strength of the current and the resistance of that part in the circuit. His name is used for the SI unit ohm; to measure electrical resistance.
The Watt
James Watt was a Scottish mechanical engineer and inventor. He revolutionised steam engines by making a design enhancement to the normal steam train design which stopped trains from having to heat and cool cylinders too fast. He was having financial difficulties, but he ended them by joining a partnership with Matthew Boulton. After he made the separate condenser that reduced the amount of rapid heating and cooling the then went on to make more design changes to train engines. He also started the concept of horsepower. His name is used for the SI unit of watts; to measure power.
The Farad
James Faraday was an English chemist and he was born on