Edward
Goodrich Acheson
Edward Goodrich Acheson was born March 9th
1856 Washington, Pennsylvania. He was an American chemist. He was the inventor
of the Acheson process, which is used to make silicon carbide that is still
used today. He started working for Thomas Edison September 12th 1880.
Acheson experimented on making a conducting carbon that Edison could use in his
electric light bulbs. Acheson attended the Bellefonte academy for three years
(1870-1872) this being the totality of his formal education. Acheson began his
career as a surveying assistant for the Pittsburgh southern railroad. In 1844,
Acheson left Edison and became supervisor at a plant competing to manufacture
electric lamps. He began working on the development of methods to produce
artificial diamond in an electric furnace. After heating a mixture of clay and
coke in an iron bowl with a carbon arc light, he found shiny, hexagonal
crystals (silicon carbide) attached to the carbon electrode. He called it
Carborundum. In 1891 he built an electricity plant in Port Huron at the
suggestion of Edison and used electricity to experiment with Carborundum. On
February 28, 1893, he received a patent on this highly effective abrasive
although a 1900 decision gave “priority broadly” to the electric smelting of
aluminum company “for reducing ores and other substances by the incandescent
method”. Acheson received 70 patents relating to abrasives, graphite products,
reduction of oxides, and refractories. Later, while studying the effects of
high temperature on Carborundum, he found that the silicon vaporizes at about 4,150° C (7,500° F), leaving behind
graphitic carbon. He died July 6, 1931, in New York City.
Work cited
"Edward Acheson Goodrich." Edward Acheson Goodrich. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Goodrich_Acheson>.
Loved it! Chris you have a great tone to your voice. You come across as being very articulate and bright. It was fast . . . slow down some next time. Remember, conversation speed.
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