Etymology of electricity

In physics the term quantity of electricity refers to the quantity of electric charge. It is designated by the letter "Q" and in the SI system is measured in derived units called coulombs.

Historical drift

Pre-English origins

The New Latin adjective "electricus", originally meaning 'of amber', was first used to refer to amber's attractive properties by William Gilbert in his 1600 text De Magnete. The term came from the classical Latin "electrum", amber, from the Greek "ἤλεκτρον" ("elektron"), amber. [electric, "adj." and "n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Draft Revision Mar. 2008] The origin of the Greek word is unknown, but there is speculation that it might have come from a Phoenician word "elēkrŏn", meaning 'shining light'. The letter Q was used for electric charge instead of the letter E because the letter was already used to represent the electron.

Entry into English

The word "electric" was first used by Francis Bacon to describe materials like amber that attracted other objects. [electric, "adj." and "n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Draft Revision Mar. 2008] [Bacon F, "Physiological Remains", before 1626, in "Baconiana" (1679)] The first usage of the English word "electricity" is ascribed to Sir Thomas Browne in his 1646 work, "Pseudodoxia Epidemica":

In this context, an "Electrick" or "Electrick body" was a non-conductor, or an object capable of attracting "light bodies" (like bits of paper) when excited by friction; a piece of amber is "an Electrick", while a piece of iron is not. "Electricity", then, was simply the property of behaving like an electric, in the same way that "elasticity" is the property of behaving like an elastic.Cite journal
doi = 10.1080/00033796700203316
volume = 23
issue = 4
pages = pp. 261–275
author = Niels H. de V. Heathcote
title = The early meaning of "electricity": Some "Pseudodoxia Epidemica" - I
journal = Annals of Science
accessdate =
year = 1967
month = December] ("Electric" continued to be used as a noun until at least 1913.) [ [http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&word=electric&resource=Webster%27s&quicksearch=on Definition of "electric"] — Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 editions] .]

It was not until later that the definition shifted to refer to the "cause" of the attraction instead of the property of being attractive. [ [http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&word=electricity&resource=Webster%27s&quicksearch=on Definition of "electricity"] — Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 editions] .]

"Charge", in the electrical sense, was first used in 1767. [ [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=charge etymonline listing for "charge"] ]

The term "quantity of electricity" was once common in scientific publications. It appears frequently in the writings of Franklin, Faraday, Maxwell, Millikan, and J. J. Thomson, and was even occasionally used by Einstein.

However, over the last hundred years the term "electricity" has been used by electric utility companies and the general public in a non-scientific way. Today the vast majority of publications no longer refer to electricity as meaning electric charge. Instead they speak of electricity as electromagnetic energy. The definition has drifted even further, and many authors now use the word "electricity" to mean electric current (amperes), energy flow (watts), electrical potential (volts), or electric force. Others refer to any electrical phenomena as kinds of electricity.

These multiple definitions are probably the reason that Quantity of Electricity has fallen into disfavor among scientists. Physics textbooks no longer define Quantity of Electricity or Flow of Electricity. Quantity of electricity is now regarded as an archaic usage, and it has slowly been replaced by the terms charge of electricity, then quantity of electric charge, and today simply charge. Since the term "electricity" has increasingly become corrupted by contradictions and unscientific definitions, today's experts instead use the term "charge" to remove any possible confusion.

Conceptual problems

However, new problems arise when we attempt to fix earlier problems by replacing the term "electricity" with the term "charge." Older scientific papers still exist, and their authors constantly discuss quantities of electricity and flows of electricity (meaning charge and current respectively.) Those historical authors know that their readers understand just one definition: the term "electricity" means "charge" and nothing else. Modern students who read physics papers from periods prior to 1930 (approx.) should make a continuous effort to remain aware of this issue. If historical physicists discuss quantities of "electricity" implying "electric charge," yet the modern reader assumes they're speaking of electrical energy, the writings of those physicists will be quite difficult to understand.

Another problem arises because the population of physicists abandoned the term "electricity" without much public discussion and perhaps without much awareness on the part of their community. By silently altering the meaning of common and heavily-used terms, the scientific community caused an immense confusion on the part of the public. Whereas in the past the question "What is electricity?" was more or less easily answered, today the question itself has become meaningless. Is electricity a form of energy? Is electricity the same as electric charge? Is electricity nothing but a class of phenomena? Should we measure the quantity of electricity in coulombs, or should we instead use amperes, joules, or watts, or even volts? Physics texts and reference books supply no solid answer, since physicists have gradually abandoned electricity as a scientific term.

And yet Quantity of Electricity still persists in its original definition in many contemporary references. For example, in the modern SI units of physics, the coulomb is defined both as the unit of electric charge and also the unit quantity of electricity. Encyclopædia Britannica defines the coulomb as the unit quantity of electricity. The Merriam-Webster dictionary, in definition 1a, defines electricity as charge. And until the late 1980s, the glossary in the "CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" used the term "quantity of electricity" in place of "electric charge" in most of its definitions. Chemistry students will be familiar with Faraday's discovery that a unit quantity of electricity, when passed through an electrolysis cell, liberates a certain number of atoms of metal or gas. Under these definitions, electricity is not a form of energy.

References

External links

* [http://amasci.com/miscon/whatis.html What is electricity?]
* [http://www.hbcpnetbase.com/ CRC Handbook]
* [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=electricity Merriam-Webster: Electricity]
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026554 Britannica: Coulomb]
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9032271 Britannica: Electric Charge]
* [http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+electricity Google: define Electricity]