TEDed - The Electric Vocabulary

Who is thought to be the first person to observe electrical phenomena?

• Thales of Miletus

• William Gilbert

• Sir Thomas Browne

• Charles Du Fay

What did Thales of Miletus discover could pick up small pieces of straw when rubbed with fur?

• Amber

• Crystal

• Metals

• Fluids

What did William Gilbert name the objects that displayed the attractive properties of amber?

• Electrons

• Electrics

• Protons

• Neutrons

Who described the experiments in a way that coined the word 'electricity'?

• Thales of Miletus

• William Gilbert

• Sir Thomas Browne

• Charles Du Fay

According to Charles Du Fay, what objects could be turned electric after subjecting them to a combination of heating and rubbing?

• Metals and fluids

• Amber and crystals

• Amber and metals

• Crystals and fluids

What did Benjamin Franklin liken the act of electrifying and de-electrifying to?

• Charging and discharging weaponry

• Rubbing and heating objects

• Attracting and repelling objects

• Linking cannons on a ship

What did Franklin compare the grouping of electric devices to?

• Cannons on a ship

• Mischievous pranks

• Large sparks

• Lightning clouds

According to Franklin, what is the substance that is common to all things and flows when objects are rubbed?

• Electrons

• Protons

• Electrical fluid

• Conventional current

What did J.J. Thomson discover the electrical fluid is made up of?

• Electrons

• Protons

• Amber

• Metals

What did people rename Franklin's flow of electrical fluid?

• Electrons

• Protons

• Amber

• Conventional current