The English physicist nd chemist who discovered electromagnetic induction (1791-1867).
(1791-1867) English chemist and physicist. In 1821 he began experimenting with electromagnetism, and ten years later discovered the induction of electric currents and made the first dynamo. He subsequently found that a magnetic field will rotate the plane of polarization of light (see polarized light). Faraday produced the basic laws of electrolysis 1834.
In 1821 he devised an apparatus that demonstrated the conversion of electrical energy into motive force, for which he is usually credited with the invention of the electric motor.
Faraday's work in chemistry included the isolation of benzene from gas oils 1835. He demonstrated the use of platinum as a catalyst and showed the importance in chemical reactions of surfaces and inhibitors.
Faraday was born in Newington, Surrey, and was apprenticed to a bookbinder; he was largely self-educated. In 1812 he began researches into electricity, and made his first electrical cell. He became a laboratory assistant to Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution 1813, and in 1833 succeeded him as professor of chemistry. Faraday delivered highly popular lectures at the Royal Institution 1825–62. He refused to take part in the preparation of poison gas for use in the Crimean War.
He experimented with high-quality steel alloys 1818. In 1820 he prepared the chlorides of carbon. In 1823 he produced liquid chlorine, and after the production of liquid carbon dioxide 1835, Faraday used this coolant to liquefy other gases.
Faraday’s laws of electrolysis established the link between electricity and chemical affinity, one of the most fundamental concepts in science. It was Faraday who coined the terms “anode”, “cathode”, “cation”, “anion”, “electrode”, and “electrolyte”.
With the device he built 1831 to produce electromagnetic induction (which, unknown to him, had been discovered 1830 by Joseph Henry), Faraday discovered the transformer.
Faraday showed in 1832 that an electrostatic charge gives rise to the same effects as current electricity. In 1837 he demonstrated that electrostatic force consists of a field of curved lines of force, and conceived of specific inductive capacity. He went on to point out that the energy of a magnet is in the field around it and not in the magnet itself, and he extended this basic conception of field theory to electrical and gravitational systems.
Finally Faraday considered the nature of light and in 1846 arrived at a form of the electromagnetic theory of light that was later developed by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

Unit of electrical charge equal to the charge on one mole of electrons. Its value is 9.648 x 104 coulombs.