Faraday’s mysterious particles: The crossword answer you can’t afford to miss

Once upon a time, there was a curious scientist named Michael Faraday who was obsessed with the study of electricity. One day, while conducting his experiments in the lab, he noticed that certain substances had the ability to conduct electricity but others did not. This sparked his interest and he decided to conduct further experiments to figure out what caused this phenomenon.

Faraday took a closer look at the particles present in these substances under the microscope and discovered something fascinating. He observed that some atoms were electrically charged, while others were not. He named these charged particles “ions“, which he proposed in the 1830s.

Years later, a crossword puzzle enthusiast stumbled upon the 7-letter clue that read: “Particles proposed by Michael Faraday in the 1830s.” The puzzler wracked their brain for an answer until they realized it must be “IONS.”

The connection between the crossword clue and its answer lies in Faraday’s groundbreaking discovery of ions – particles that carry an electrical charge and are present in all conductive materials. Without Faraday’s discovery, we would not have the understanding of ions that we have today. And without the crossword puzzle, we would not have been reminded of Faraday’s contribution to the scientific world.