In order to bring these results within the power of symbolical calculation, I then express them in the form of the General Equations of the Electromagnetic Field. These equations express–
- (A) The relation between electric displacement, true conduction, and the total current, compounded of both.
- (B) The relation between the lines of magnetic force and the inductive coefficients of a circuit, as already deduced from the laws of induction.
- (C) The relation between the strength of a current and its magnetic effects, according to the electromagnetic system of measurement.
- (D) The value of the electromotive force in a body, as arising from the motion of the body in the field, the alteration of the field itself, and the variation of electric potential from one part of the field to another.
- (E) The relation between electric displacement, and the electromotive force which produces it.
- (F) The relation between an electric current, and the electromotive force which produces it.
- (G) The relation between the amount of free electricity at any point, and the electric displacements in the neighbourhood.
- (H) The relation between the increase or diminution of free electricity and the electric currents in the neighbourhood.
There are twenty of these equations in all, involving twenty variable quantities
(19) I then express in terms of these quantities the intrinsic energy of the Electromagnetic Field as depending partly on its magnetic and partly on its electric polarization at every point.
From this I determine the mechanical force acting, 1st, on a moveable conductor carrying an electric current; 2ndly, on a magnetic pole; 3rdly, on an electrified body.
The last result, namely, the mechanical force acting on an electrified body, gives rise to an independent method of electrical measurement founded on its electrostatic effects. The relation between the units employed in the two methods is shown to depend on what I have called the "electric elasticity" of the medium, and to be a velocity, which has been experimentally determined by MM. Weber and Kohlrausch.
I then show how to calculate the electrostatic capacity of a condenser, and the specific inductive capacity of a dielectric.
The case of a condenser composed of parallel layers of substances of different electric resistances and inductive capacities is next examined, and it is shown that the phenomenon called electric absorption will generally occur, that is, the condenser, when suddenly discharged, will after a short time show signs of a residual charge.
(20) The general equations are next applied to the case of a magnetic disturbance propagated through a non-conductive field, and it is shown that the only disturbances which can be so propagated are those which are transverse to the direction of propagation, and that the velocity of propagation is the velocity v, found from experiments such
