James Prescott Joule

James Prescott Joule (December 24, 1818–October 11, 1889) was an English physicist, born in Salford, near Manchester.

Related Topics:
December 24 - 1818 - October 11 - 1889 - English - Physicist - Salford - Manchester

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Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work (see energy). This led to the theory of conservation of energy (the First Law of Thermodynamics). The SI unit of work, the joule, is named after him, and is pronounced to rhyme with "tool." He worked with Lord Kelvin to develop the absolute scale of temperature, made observations on magnetostriction, and found the relationship between the flow of current through a resistance and the heat dissipated, now called Joule's law.

Related Topics:
Heat - Energy - Conservation of energy - Thermodynamics - SI - Joule - Lord Kelvin - Temperature - Magnetostriction - Current - Resistance - Joule's law

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