Yablochkov

Pavel Nicolayevitch Yablochkov was born in Saratov Province, on September 26, 1847.

At the age of 12, Yablochkov constructed a special geodetic instrument. That was his first invention.

When 14 years old, the boy was taken by his parents to Petersburg. Having finished school, he entered the Military Engineering College and later the Electro-technical School for officers. At both these schools he studied mathematics, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, foreign languages, and other subjects. After graduating, he gave up the lucrative post of a military engineer and continued to perfect his knowledge in electrical engineering.

At this period of his life, Yablochkov moved to Moscow and worked as a chief of the telegraph office on the Moscow-Kursk Railway. While living in Moscow, Yablochkov often met with well-known scientists and inventors of the time and took an active part in the work of a scientific society. He organized a physical laboratory and workshop if his own. It is there that he spent all his free time studying electrical phenomena. However, never getting any support in tsarist Russia, he was obliged to leave his fatherland.

When in Paris, Yablochkov met a scientist also working in the field of electrical engineering. The latter saw at once what an outstanding man Yablochkov was and invited the inventor to work in his laboratory. Yablochkov was allowed to carry on his scientific and experimental work there.

The practical application of the electric arc for lighting purposes begins with Yablochkov. Before him it had seemed impossible because the carbon rods between which the arc had to be formed burned out too quickly. The carbon electrodes burning out so quickly, the distance between them increased. On the other hand, the distance between the rods increasing, the arc itself went out. All the attempts of solving this problem were quite fruitless. The only man who found a solution to this most difficult problem was Yablochkov. He achieved it by placing the two carbon electrodes parallel to each other instead of placing them end to end as other electricians had done before him. Thus, the candle could burn for about one hour and a half.

On March 23, 1876, Yablochkov received the French patent for his "candle" or "Russian candle" as it was generally called.

Yablochkov's candle was said to be the most interesting device at the London Exhibition of Physical Instruments in 1876. After that exhibition, his invention was demonstrated many times more at several other world exhibitions in Paris. It attracted general attention.

All newspapers and magazines of the time published articles discussing Yablochkov's great invention. Reports concerning the candle were made at numerous scientific societies. The practical application of the electric candle spread and Yablochkov's name became known all over the world.

While working at his candle, Yablochkov was the first to realize the advantages of a transformer. He employed a single-phase a. c. transformer with a broken magnetic system. He was also the first scientist who was fully aware of the advantages of the alternating current system and widely used the a. c. for practical purposes. Before him that kind of current had been employed for laboratory work alone.

Although offered great advantages and profits abroad, he came to Russia in order to organize mass production of the candle in his own fatherland. As previously stated, however, he found no support in the economically backward tsarist Russia. In spite of all the hardships that he had to overcome Yablochkov continued working in the field of electricity to the day of his death, and that was on March 31, 1894.