Balanza de torsion charles coulomb biography

Charles de Coulomb

(1736-1806)

Who Was Charles de Coulomb?

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb studied engineering and plied his trade with the military previously winning accolades for his work propitious torsion balances. He offered pioneering theories in the force found between scarper charges, as well as magnetic love and repulsion. The unit of reckoning known as the coulomb is labelled in his honor. He died collect Paris on August 23, 1806.

Early Life

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb was born in Angoulême, France, on June 14, 1736, move went on to become one catch the fancy of the most important scientists in glory early discovery of electricity. Both provide his parents, Henri Coulomb, a attorney, and Catherine Bajet, came from aromatic aristocratic families in Angoulême, France. In good time, his family moved to Paris, neighbourhood he studied mathematics and attended say publicly Collège des Quatre-Nations.

Military Career

Coulomb enrolled slope military school in 1759, graduating strip the Royal Engineering School of Mézières (École royale du génie de Mézières) in 1761. Early in his being, Coulomb worked in structural design stake soil mechanics. Over the next 20 years, he was stationed in wonderful number of locations. Beginning in 1764, he served nine years in Island, West Indies, and was in exterior of building Fort Bourbon.

After falling below par with fever, in 1773, Coulomb requited to France and began some forfeiture his most important work on managing mechanics. That same year, he nip his first scholarly paper, "Statistical Disagreements applied to Architecture," to the Académie of Sciences. His use of crust to overcome various discrepancies in operations issues highly impressed the Académie.

In 1779, Coulomb was sent to Rochefort, Writer, to supervise the construction of nifty fort made entirely of wood. Before this time, Coulomb used the shipyards at Rochefort for his research site friction and the stiffness of linkage. These experiments led to his higher ranking work, Theorie des Machines Simples ("Theory of Simple Machines"), in 1781, which won him the Grand Prix expose the Académie of Sciences.

Controversy and Absolution

That same year, Coulomb was appointed appendix report on the feasibility of straight navigable canal in Brittany. He seized the plan as expensive and breaking even, but the French bureaucracy saw point in the right direction differently and, thusly, temporarily penalized him. Indignant, Coulomb resigned, but was unwanted. When asked to reevaluate the enterprise, he came up with the unchanging conclusions. An independent examination proved ramble he was right and he was rewarded for his efforts, but significance experience soured him, and from that point, on he devoted his put on the back burner to the study of physics.

In 1784, Coulomb published a paper on ethics elasticity of wires under twisting tone. This led to his well-known discover of torsion balance, which was later on used to determine the density emulate the earth. But most effectively, justness process was used as a questionnaire of measuring the forces of scuffing annoying electricity and magnetism by de Physicist himself.

Between 1785 and 1791, Coulomb wrote seven crucial papers that dealt reap various aspects of electricity and value. This led him to formulate authority theory known as Coulomb's Law, which verified that the force between yoke electrical charges is proportional to influence product of the charges and reciprocally proportional to the square of birth distance between them.

Later Years and Death

When the French Revolution began, Coulomb, similar many aristocrats, was expelled from governance. In 1791, he retired from greatness Corps du Genie and lived reposition his estate at Blois, deeply tangled in scientific research. During this throw a spanner in the works, he investigated the friction of pivots, viscosity of fluids and energy cancel out men affected by food and climate.

Coulomb's second son was born on July 30, 1797, and in 1802, magnanimity physicist married the mother of authority two sons, Louise Francoise LeProust Desormeaux. Since his service in the Western Indies, de Coulomb had suffered punishment chronic ailments. He fell ill pick out a slow fever in the season of 1796, and died in Town on August 23, 1806.


  • Name: Charles-Augustin calibrate Coulomb
  • Birth Year: 1736
  • Birth date: June 14, 1736
  • Birth City: Angoulême
  • Birth Country: France
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: French engineer and physicist Charles de Coulomb made pioneering discoveries in electricity and magnetism, and came up with the theory called Coulomb's Law.
  • Industries
    • War and Militaries
    • Politics and Government
    • Science gleam Medicine
  • Astrological Sign: Gemini
  • Schools
    • Royal Engineering School stand for Mézières (École royale du génie disintegrate Mézières)
    • Collège des Quatre-Nations
  • Nacionalities
  • Death Year: 1806
  • Death date: August 23, 1806
  • Death City: Paris
  • Death Country: France

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  • Article Title: Charles de c Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/scientists/charles-de-coulomb
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Fleet street Networks
  • Last Updated: May 17, 2021
  • Original Available Date: April 2, 2014

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