site of that in the machine; we may then remove it and make use of this electricity.
It requires a little thought to see what labour we have spent in this process. We must bear in mind that, by touching the plate, we have carried off the electricity of the same name as that of the machine, so that, after touching the insulated plate it is more strongly attracted to the conductor than it was before. When we begin to remove it, therefore, it will cost us an effort to do so, and the mechanical energy which we spend in removing it will account for the energy of electrical separation which we then obtain.
139. We may thus make use of a small nucleus of electricity, to assist us in procuring an unlimited supply, for in the above process the electricity of the prime conductor remains unaltered, and Ave may repeat the operation as often as we like, and gather together a very large quantity of electricity, without finally altering the electricity of the prime conductor, but not, however, without the expenditure of an equivalent amount of energy, in the shape of actual work.
140. While, as we have seen, there is a tendency in all motion to be changed into heat, there is one instance where it is, in the first place at least, changed into a current of electricity. We allude to the case where a conducting substance moves in the presence of an electric current, or of a magnet.
In Art. 104 we found that if one coil connected with a
