If we have 4 coils of 1, 2, 2, and 5 ohms resistance, we shall be able to use any number of ohms from 1 to 10 by making the proper connections. (See Apparatus Book, chapter XVII, for Home-made Resistance Coils.)
For protection and convenience, coils are usually placed in a box, the whole being called a _resistance box_. The ends of the coils are joined to brass blocks, placed near each other on the top of the box, and between which may be pressed plugs when it is desired to short circuit the coils. By removing a plug, the coil, whose ends are joined to the blocks touching it, is brought into the circuit.
=310. Simple Resistance Coil.= Fig. 94 shows a simple form of coil, R C (No. 79). The total resistance is 2 ohms, L (left) and R (right) being binding-posts to which the ends of the coil, C, are joined. M (middle) connects with the middle of the wire, at which point the wire is doubled. The coil is fastened to a stiff pasteboard base, B.
=Connections.= When 2 ohms resistance are wanted, let the current enter at L and leave at R (or the reverse). When 1 ohm is wanted, let the current leave or enter at M, the other wire being joined to L or to R. Connections should be made with spring connectors. See § 229.
=EXPERIMENT 119. To test the power of various substances to conduct galvanic electricity.=
_Apparatus._ Galvanoscope, G V (No. 58); dry cell, D C, or two-fluid cell, 2-F C; pieces of different metals; wood, dry and damp; tumbler of pure water; rubber; ebonite; silk; glass, etc., etc. _Arrange_ as in Fig. 92, leaving out R C, and instead of having M P between wires 1 and 2, use their free ends to press firmly upon the ends of the substance to be tested; that is, the body under test should take the place of M P in the Fig. G V will show a deflection, of course, when the particular thing under test is a conductor.
=311. Directions.= (A) Make tests with the above substances, and with any others at hand, and note which are conductors and which are not.
_=312. Conductors and Nonconductors.=_ It is evident, from the experiments, that bodies which conduct static electricity do not necessarily conduct galvanic electricity. The greater the E. M. F. of a current, the greater its power to overcome resistance. Some bodies, like dry wood, that readily conduct the high potential static electricity, make fairly good insulators for the low potential galvanic currents. For convenience, substances may be divided into _good conductors_, _partial conductors_, and _insulators_, or nonconductors.