Download
1 / 18
180 likes | 258 Views
Early Electronic Communication:. Morse’s Telegraph. Objectives. Compare and contrast Morse’s telegraph and other contributing inventions and decide which one was the most important to the Industrial Revolution.
E N D
Early Electronic Communication: Morse’s Telegraph
Objectives • Compare and contrast Morse’s telegraph and other contributing inventions and decide which one was the most important to the Industrial Revolution. • Be able to signal and understand a message in Morse Code after completing the activity. * Note that underlined words are the answers to the worksheet.
The Beginning: Non-electric Telegraph • Invented by Claude Chappe • Used flag-based alphabet • Required a line of sight
The Beginning: Electromagnet • Invented by William Sturgeon • Laid foundations for future creations
The Beginning: Joseph Henry • Used Sturgeon’s electromagnet to experiment with other ideas • Sent an electric current through wire causing a bell to ring
The Beginning: Leonard D. Gale • Was a professor of chemistry interested in Joseph Henry’s creation • Published article reflecting on Henry’s creation about a possible way to create an electric telegraph • Article was crucial to Morse’s invention
Samuel Morse: Starting Out • Idea to create telegraph came to him when returning from Europe in 1832 when he understood how the electromagnet worked • He built his first telegraph out of basic materials including a picture frame, a table, and lead pieces. • This worked but was ignored • He had to wait twelve years before trying again • He was in debt and had no food • He did not give up
Samuel Morse: Trying Again • Failed as a painter • Turned his attention to the telegraph again • He was still very poor and had to make the most of his materials • He found small pieces of wire and tied them together • Demonstrated his progress in the fall of 1837 • He strung ten miles of wire around a classroom • He invited business men who could possibly invest in his invention • No one liked it except Alfred Vail
Samuel Morse: Improving the Invention • Alfred Vail became his partner and was crucial to Morse’s success • They worked together to improve the telegraph • First model used marker to record message • Next model used notched metal rod to transfer messages • Eventually, they changed the code and finished with a series of dots and dashes • Often used letters such as vowels had shorter codes
Samuel Morse: The Final Product • Asked Congress for money • Request was approved • A young women notified him of Congress’s support • Morse let the young lady choose the first message to be sent over wires • Message was sent on May 24, 1844 • “What hath God wrought” was sent from Numbers 23:23 in the Bible • Message was received in Baltimore by Alfred Vail
Samuel Morse: Results • People were more interested in Morse and his telegraph • It was now easy to send detailed messages from one person to another quickly • Later, translators worked to convert Morse code into words • A skilled translator could transmit 40-50 words per minute • An automatic transmission was developed later to transmit twice as many words per minute • Telegraph lines connected Europe and America
Samuel Morse: Results Continued • Had a great influence on businesses • They could communicate easily with other businesses • As a result, they could connect with each other and eventually even merge together to become one big business which would make even more money • Thy could work faster and more efficiently
Relationship to the Industrial Revolution in the United States • The electric telegraph was a creation that greatly influenced the Industrial Revolution because it changed the lives of many people by providing machinery that could help one communicate. • Before this, people had to use flag signals which took a long time, were inconvenient, and made detailed messages impossible.
Conclusion • Samuel Morse was a determined inventor • He never gave up even when in debt • He was focused and knew he could create an electric telegraph • He successfully used the experiments of others to invent an electric telegraph that was quick and convenient • Used William Sturgeon’s electromagnet • Improved Joseph Henry’s progress in creating the telegraph
Conclusion Continued • When I compared and contrasted the inventions of Joseph Henry, William Sturgeon, and Samuel Morse, I thought that William Sturgeon’s creation of the electromagnet was the most important since Henry’s and Morse’s inventions could not have been created without this knowledge.
Morse Code Activity Directions • Step 1: Break up into groups of two or threes. • Step 2: Using your hand, tap a simple message one the desk to one another using the following chart. Lift your hand quickly for a dot and leave your hand on the desk for a dash. For our purposes, slide your hand across the desk for a space in between words.
