ENG 333 Communication for Science and Research

Jamie Larsen, Instructor

Week 8 - Activity 1 - E-mail

1. Read the following excerpt from a real set of instructions for conducting an experiment.

   Preparation

   Fix a tassel of fifteen or twenty threads, three inches long, at one end of a tin prime conductor (mine is about five feet long, and four inches in diameter) supported by silk lines.

   Let the threads be a little damp, not wet.

   Experiment 1

   1. Pass an excited glass tube near the other end of the prime-conductor so as to give it some sparks, and the threads will diverge.

      Because each thread, as well as the prime conductor, has acquired an electric atmosphere, which repels and is repelled by the atmospheres of the other threads; if those several atmospheres would readily mix, the threads might unite, and hang in the middle of one atmosphere, common to them all.

   2. Rub the tube afresh, and approach the prime conductor therewith, crossways, near that end, but not nigh enough to give sparks, and the threads will diverge a little more.

      Because the atmosphere of the prime conductor is pressed by the atmosphere of the excited tube, and driven towards the end where the threads are, by which each thread acquires more atmosphere.

   3. Withdraw the tube, and they will close as much...end of excerpt
2. Take a stab at the following questions and email your answers to me. HINT: This experiment took place in 1752.
   • What is the experiment's purpose and who conducted it?
   • What is good about the instructions?
   • What is obviously missing from the instructions?