On the various forces of nature and their relations to each otherFaraday, Michael
Science
On the various forces of nature and their relations to each other
Faraday, Michael
Physics
and break it up--but you can only divide it into these beautiful little
rhomboids.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 16. and Fig. 17.]
Now I want you to understand a little more how this is--and for this
purpose I am going to use the electric light again. You see, we cannot
look into the _middle_ of a body like this piece of glass. We perceive
the outside form, and the inside form, and we look _through_ it; but
we cannot well find out how these forms become so: and I want you,
therefore, to take a lesson in the way in which we use a ray of light
for the purpose of seeing what is in the interior of bodies. Light is a
thing which is, so to say, attracted by every substance that gravitates
(and we do not know anything that does not). All matter affects light
more or less by what we may consider as a kind of attraction, and I
have arranged (fig. 18) a very simple experiment upon the floor of the
room for the purpose of illustrating this. I have put into that basin
a few things which those who are in the body of the theatre will not
be able to see, and I am going to make use of this power, which matter
possesses, of attracting a ray of light. If Mr. Anderson pours some
water, gently and steadily, into the basin, the water will attract the
rays of light downwards, and the piece of silver and the sealing-wax
will appear to rise up into the sight of those who were before not high
enough to see over the side of the basin to its bottom. [Mr. Anderson
here poured water into the basin, and upon the Lecturer asking whether
any body could see the silver and sealing-wax, he was answered by a
general affirmative.] Now, I suppose that everybody can see that they
are not at all disturbed, whilst from the way they appear to have risen
up, you would imagine the bottom of the basin and the articles in it
were two inches thick, although they are only one of our small silver
dishes and a piece of sealing-wax which I have put there. The light
which now goes to you from that piece of silver was obstructed by the
edge of the basin, when there was no water there, and you were unable
to see anything of it; but when we poured in water, the rays were
attracted down by it, over the edge of the basin, and you were thus
enabled to see the articles at the bottom.
[Illustration: Fig. 18. and Fig. 19.]
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