I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1308 The Father of Electromagnetism

That afternoon, Joseph, Mirabo, Tresagae, and others briefly planned the construction of a new steam forging plant and the expansion of rail production capacity using forging machines.

Of course, this matter involves the entire country, and even the future railway construction across most of Europe, requiring a massive amount of funding. Therefore, the specific implementation plan still needs to be formulated in detail by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transport.

At 4 p.m., Joseph bid farewell to his father and left the engineering design institute. Seeing that it was not yet dark, he instructed Emman to go to the French Academy of Sciences first.

When Cullen learned that His Highness the Crown Prince had arrived, he and Volt hurried out of the Academy of Sciences' laboratory building to greet him.

Joseph wasted no time, exchanging only a few pleasantries with the two before gesturing for Dean Leroy and the others to enter the laboratory together.

Kullen pointed to a square glass tank, about half a meter high, filled with liquid and metal plates on the experimental platform, and excitedly introduced it to Joseph:
"Your Highness, we have proven your theory through numerous experiments."

"This 'stacked battery' can discharge continuously for more than 40 minutes, providing hundreds of times more power than a Leyden jar!"

As he was speaking, Volt had already taken the experimental equipment from the side: "Please allow me to demonstrate it to you, Your Highness."

Wearing thick leather gloves, he pulled out two wires from the sides of the glass tank and inserted them into a bottle of water.

A string of bubbles immediately rose to the surface of the water.

Volt gestured to his assistant, who quickly brought two glass test tubes and covered the two electrodes.

Kulen asked Joseph mysteriously, "Your Highness, do you know what those bubbles in the water are?"

Joseph replied without hesitation, "It must be hydrogen and oxygen."

This is a typical water electrolysis experiment, which we did in junior high school physics class.

Kulen and Volt's eyes widened in surprise. "You, how did you know?" they exclaimed.

"God, we thought we had made a completely new discovery..."

Joseph was immediately embarrassed, as if he had hurt their confidence. He should have just said "I don't know" to show his support.

Kulen was the first to realize: "By the way, this stacked battery was built according to His Highness the Crown Prince's design. Of course you would know about such trivial matters."

He thought to himself, "Thank goodness I didn't apply for a patent before."

Joseph quickly reassured the two, "Ah, I only came up with the idea; without your excellent work, it would never have become a usable battery."

"As for the two gases, it's because I know water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, and they might be electrolyzed out when electricity is applied..."

He suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing again.

Sure enough, Volt immediately asked, "What do you mean by 'electrolysis'?"

Joseph rubbed his forehead: "We'll talk about that later. Let me take a look at the battery first."

"Oh, of course, as you wish."

Volt put away the copper wire, picked up the wooden clips next to him, and pointed to the metal sheet in the glass tank, saying, "Look, this is a thin silver sheet, and this side is a zinc sheet, separated by rubber in the middle. Then carefully bend it into an S shape, so as to maximize the area of ​​the metal plate and thus generate more electricity."

Kullen added from the side, "And the solution used is 25% sulfuric acid. After repeated experiments, this is the optimal concentration."

Joseph nodded repeatedly. Although the principle of the voltaic pile is very simple, in this era of zero prior knowledge, it is not an easy task to create a practical object with application value.

Just by looking at the densely packed, regularly arranged metal plates in the glass tank, one could tell that the electrical power was far beyond what the "toys" he had used in his previous experiments could compare to.

With this battery, France will enter the electrical age! For example, the telegraph!

However, Joseph immediately sighed inwardly. They had only managed to create the voltaic pile; a series of problems remained before they could build even the simplest telegraph machine, including making the battery portable, developing electromagnets, and establishing transmitting and receiving circuits.

Even now, there aren't even reliable insulated wires available, and Volt is still wearing gloves and "playing" with bare wires... This necessitates the use of vulcanized rubber to make the insulation for the wires.

A truly practical telegraph machine would require an important component: a relay. Otherwise, the transmission distance would be limited to a maximum of two or three kilometers, which is less than that of the Shapu signal tower.

Ideally, it should also be equipped with a rechargeable lead-acid battery.

Well, let's take it slow. Scientific research can't be rushed.

Joseph briefly outlined the various technologies required and said to Cullen, "I've discovered a phenomenon before that might be helpful for your research on electricity."

The latter immediately replied earnestly, "I look forward to your new theory."

Joseph picked up a thin silver wire from the lab bench, muttering to himself, "Couldn't we use copper wire? That stuff is so expensive..."

He then found a wooden stick about the thickness of a finger and wrapped the silver wire around it. Since there was no insulation layer, he had to leave very large gaps between the wires.

He then asked Cullen to bring a compass, and then connected the two poles of the voltaic cell to the two ends of the silver wire on the wooden stick.

When he brought the compass close to the top of the stick, everyone in the lab stared wide-eyed—the compass inexplicably began to deflect!

"This, how is this possible!"

"Did you use some kind of trick?"

Joseph shook his head slightly: "I call it an 'electromagnetic phenomenon.' When an electric current passes through a conductor, a magnetic force is generated. Moreover, I discovered that the direction of the magnetic field is related to the electric current; you can tell by making a fist with your right hand and extending your thumb..."

Coulomb and Volta listened to the Crown Prince explain the principles of electromagnetism with the same reverence one would show to the Bible.

As dusk fell, Joseph finally finished his "lecture" and silently apologized to Faraday.

He didn't dare to say too much, and didn't mention the principles of electric fields or electromagnetic conversion. Such cutting-edge theories need to be left for the two of them to digest.

Before returning to Versailles, Joseph instructed Cullen, "You can use copper for the experiments, since silver won't be used for the batteries that will be put into practical use in the future."

"In addition, you should try to wrap the wire with a non-conductive outer layer."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Just as Joseph was about to leave, he heard Volt whisper, "Your Highness, what exactly is 'electrolysis'?"

"Um... I'll tell you next week. You can preview the chemistry material first."

Joseph boarded the steam railcar outside the Academy of Sciences. As the car slowly started moving with the sound of its whistle, he turned to Emmanuel and instructed him on tomorrow's schedule: "Send someone to invite Mr. Lavoisier to see me tomorrow morning. After lunch, we'll go to Notre Dame Cathedral..."

“A retinue? No, it’s not necessary, and there’s no need for Archbishop Brian and his men to accompany us.”

Well, developing vulcanized rubber is quite difficult, so it can only be entrusted to Lavoisier.

As for going to Notre Dame Cathedral, he just wanted to have a casual chat with the Pope.

(End of this chapter)