Skip to main content

Electric vocabulary - James Sheils

653,015 Views

26,244 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

We all know the words around electricity -- “charge,” “positive,” “battery” and more. But where do they come from and what do they really mean? Let the history of these words illuminate the physics of electric phenomena.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Here's a journal artical about Physics Education. In it, you can read more details about the historical origins of electrical vocabulary: http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/47/1/78/article
http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/47/1/78/pdf/0031-9120_47_1_78.pdf
Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment is one of the foundational scientific explorations dealing with electricity. http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/kite.htm
http://fi.edu/franklin/scientst/electric.html
Jean-Antoine Nollet popularized science in France. His most famous illustration was an electric shock that passed through 180 of King Louis XV's Royal Guards. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/417286/Abbe-Jean-Antoine-Nollet
Thales of Miletos made a series of observations on static electricity around 600 BC, from which he believed that friction rendered amber magnetic, in contrast to minerals such as magnetite, which needed no rubbing. Thales was incorrect in believing the attraction was due to a magnetic effect, but later science would prove a link between magnetism and electricity. http://www.iep.utm.edu/thales/

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Director Biljana Labović
  • Animator Celeste Lai
  • Educator James Sheils
  • Narrator James Sheils

More from Inventions that Shape History