Solved cryptogram
Depositing a mole of silver by electrolysis needs one fixed quantity of electric charge.
Physics Facts, sourced to NIST.
What it means
Faraday worked this out before anyone believed in electrons. He noticed that the mass of metal plated out of a solution was strictly proportional to the charge pushed through it, which only makes sense if electricity itself comes in discrete parcels, one parcel per atom deposited. The constant that carries his name is simply the elementary charge multiplied by a mole.
The claim comes from NIST, and the page it comes from was read on 2026-08-27 to confirm it still says this.
This is not the kind of claim that goes out of date, which is why it was set as a puzzle rather than a fact with a shelf life.
Solve it yourself
This fact is a cryptogram here: 74 letters over 22 different ones, graded hard.
- SourceNIST
- CollectionPhysics Facts
- Difficultyhard
- Length74 letters, 22 of them different
Nearby in the collection
The facts either side of this one.
- NISTmedium, 75 letters
- NISThard, 77 letters
- NISThard, 74 letters
- Royal Society of Chemistrymedium, 68 letters
About as hard as this one
Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.