Faraday's Voltammeter 2

© the artist. Image credit: The Royal Institution

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Notes

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This painting is part of a series depicting scientific apparatus on display in the Royal Institution (Ri)’s museum. It shows one of the voltammeters Michael Faraday used at the Ri during the early 1830s to quantify electricity for the first time.

The voltammeter works by electrolysis: using electricity to break a compound down into elements. The electric current is passed through a known amount of a compound for a set amount of time. The stronger the current the faster the reaction so, by measuring the remaining compound and the elements, you can determine how much electricity is used. Before this he detected electricity by touching the ends of a circuit to a frog to see if its legs twitched.

Faraday lived and worked at the Ri for over 50 years and in that time he invented the first electric motor, generator and transformer.

The Royal Institution

London

Title

Faraday's Voltammeter 2

Date

2009

Medium

oil on linen

Measurements

H 19.6 x W 19.9 cm

Accession number

EN 27

Acquisition method

gift from Mr and Mrs John Symons, 2010

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The Royal Institution

21 Albermarle Street, London, Greater London W1S 4BS England

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