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Electromagnetism
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge.
Electricity gives a wide variety of well-known effects, such as lightning, static electricity, electromagnetic
induction and electrical current. In addition, electricity permits the creation and reception of electromagnetic
radiation such as radio waves.
In electricity, charges produce electromagnetic fields which act on other charges. Electricity occurs due to
several types of physics:
electric charge: a property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic
interactions. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields.
electric field (see electrostatics): an especially simple type of electromagnetic field produced by an
electric charge even when it is not moving (i.e., there is no electric current). The electric field
produces a force on other charges in its vicinity.
electric potential: the capacity of an electric field to do work on an electric charge, typically
measured in volts.
electromagnets: Moving charges produce a magnetic field. Electrical currents generate magnetic
fields, and changing magnetic fields generate electrical currents.
electronics which deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as
vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection
technologies.
Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity, though progress in theoretical understanding
remained slow until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Even then, practical applications for electricity
were few, and it would not be until the late nineteenth century that engineers were able to put it to industrial
and residential use. The rapid expansion in electrical technology at this time transformed industry and
society. Electricity's extraordinary versatility means it can be put to an almost limitless set of applications
which include transport, heating, lighting, communications, and computation. Electrical power is now the
backbone of modern industrial society.[1]
Static Electricity
Static electricity is when electrical charges build up on the surface of a material. It is usually caused by
rubbing materials together. The result of a build-up of static electricity is that objects may be attracted to
each other or may even cause a spark to jump from one to the other. For Example rub a baloon on a wool
and hold it up to the wall.
Before rubbing, like all materials, the balloons and the wool sweater have a neutral charge. This is because
they each have an equal number of positively charged subatomic particles (protons) and negatively charged
subatomic particles (electrons). When you rub the balloon with the wool sweater, electrons are transferred
from the wool to the rubber because of differences in the attraction of the two materials for electrons. The
balloon becomes negatively charged because it gains electrons from the wool, and the wool becomes
positively charged because it loses electrons.
Current Electricity
Current is the rate of flow of electrons. It is produced by moving electrons and it is measured in amperes.
Unlike static electricity, current electricity must flow through a conductor, usually copper wire. Current with
electricity is just like current when you think of a river. The river flows from one spot to another, and the
speed it moves is the speed of the current. With electricity, current is a measure of the amount of energy
transferred over a period of time. That energy is called a flow of electrons. One of the results of current is
the heating of the conductor. When an electric stove heats up, it's because of the flow of current.
There are different sources of current electricity including the chemical reactions taking place in a battery.
The most common source is the generator. A simple generator produces electricity when a coil of copper
turns inside a magnetic field. In a power plant, electromagnets spinning inside many coils of copper wire
generate vast quantities of current electricity.
There are two main kinds of electric current. Direct (DC) and Alternating (AC). It's easy to remember. Direct
current is like the energy you get from a battery. Alternating current is like the plugs in the wall. The big
difference between the two is that DC is a flow of energy while AC can turn on and off. AC reverses the
direction of the electrons.
Electrical circuit
A simple electrical circuit. This circuit has a power source, a complete path for electrons to flow, and a
resistor as the load.
An electric circuit is a path in which electrons from a voltage or current source flow. Electric current flows
in a closed path called an electric circuit. The point where those electrons enter an electrical circuit is called
the "source" of electrons. The point where the electrons leave an electrical circuit is called the "return" or
"earth ground". The exit point is called the "return" because electrons always end up at the source when they
complete the path of an electrical circuit. The part of an electrical circuit that is between the electrons'
starting point and the point where they return to the source is called an electrical circuit's "load". The load of
an electrical circuit may be as simple as those that power electrical appliances like refrigerators, televisions,
or microwave ovens or more complicated, such as the load on the output of a hydroelectricpower generating
station.
Circuits use two forms of electrical power: alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). AC often
powers large appliances and motors and is generated by coal, hydroelectric, nuclear and other large power
plants. DC powers battery, PoE and USB operated vehicles, tools, toys and small appliances, as well as
electronic circuits with LEDs (e.g., lighting, monitors, TVs), sensors and computer logic (e.g., networking,
cell phones, tablets, laptops). DC power can easily be converted from AC or produced directly from solar,
wind and other generators.
Source
o Every circuit needs a current source. It could be a household wall plug, an industrial
substation, a battery or a solar cell. Since different circuits have different power demands, the
source must provide at least as much power as the circuit uses.
Many electronic items can't use household A.C. power directly; they might use a converter to
change A.C. to D.C. at a safe voltage. The converter may be built into the electronic device,
or it might be the familiar A.C. adapter that plugs into the wall.
Wiring
o Every circuit needs to carry electric current from one part to another. Wiring performs this
job. It comes in a variety of thicknesses, called gauges, that determine how much current it
can carry. Wire also comes as solid or stranded. Stranded wire is made of several fine wires
tightly wrapped together; solid wire is a single conductor. Typically, wire consists of a copper
strand insulated with a thin plastic jacket. The insulation prevents wires from shorting out
against each other, and keeps higher voltages safely contained. The insulating plastic is
usually colored to indicate the wire's purpose, such as green for ground, white for neutral and
black for hot.
Switch
o Being able to turn things on and off at will is an advantage of using electric current. To do
that, the circuit needs a switch. A switch is a sealed metal contact that completes the circuit
when it's on and breaks the connection when it's off. When the connection is broken, no
current can flow.
Switches come in nearly endless varieties, from the buttons on your cell phone to industrial
units that handle thousands of amps.
Load
o A load is a generic term for the part of your circuit that consumes power. It could be a light
bulb, a loudspeaker, a motor, or any active component. It's the part of your circuit that
performs some action. Loads use power in the form of voltage and current, so the other parts
of your circuit need to be rated to handle the power used by your load. A small item, like a
cellphone, takes little power, so it can get by with thin wires and a shared power strip. An air
conditioner, on the other hand, uses a lot of power. It needs thick cables, a heavy-duty switch,
and a dedicated circuit breaker.
Wet cell
A wet cell battery has a liquid electrolyte. Other names are flooded cell, since the liquid covers all internal
parts, or vented cell, since gases produced during operation can escape to the air. Wet cells were a precursor
to dry cells and are commonly used as a learning tool for electrochemistry. They can be built with common
laboratory supplies, such as beakers, for demonstrations of how electrochemical cells work. A particular type
of wet cell known as a concentration cell is important in understanding corrosion.
Wet cells may be primary cells (non-rechargeable) or secondary cells (rechargeable). Originally, all practical
primary batteries such as the Daniell cell were built as open-top glass jar wet cells. Other primary wet cells
are the Leclanche cell, Grove cell, Bunsen cell, Chromic acid cell, Clark cell, and Weston cell. The
Leclanche cell chemistry was adapted to the first dry cells. Wet cells are still used in automobile batteries
and in industry for standby power for switchgear, telecommunication or large uninterruptible power
supplies, but in many places batteries with gel cells have been used instead. These applications commonly
use leadacid or nickelcadmium cells.
Dry cell
Further information: Dry cell
Molten salt batteries are primary or secondary batteries that use a molten salt as electrolyte. They operate at
high temperatures and must be well insulated to retain heat.
An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light which
produces light with a wire filament heated to a high temperature by an electric current passing through it,
until it glows (see Incandescence). The hot filament is protected from oxidation with a glass or quartz bulb
that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, filament evaporation is prevented by a chemical
process that redeposits metal vapor onto the filament, extending its life. The light bulb is supplied with
electrical current by feed-through terminals or wires embedded in the glass. Most bulbs are used in a socket
which provides mechanical support and electrical connections.
Incandescent bulbs are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, light output, and voltage ratings, from 1.5
volts to about 300 volts. They require no external regulating equipment, have low manufacturing costs, and
work equally well on either alternating current or direct current. As a result, the incandescent lamp is widely
used in household and commercial lighting, for portable lighting such as table lamps, car headlamps, and
flashlights, and for decorative and advertising lighting.
of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source
economically viable.
Historian Thomas Hughes has attributed Edison's success to his development of an entire, integrated system
of electric lighting.
The lamp was a small component in his system of electric lighting, and no more critical to its effective
functioning than the Edison Jumbo generator, the Edison main and feeder, and the parallel-distribution
system. Other inventors with generators and incandescent lamps, and with comparable ingenuity and
excellence, have long been forgotten because their creators did not preside over their introduction in a
system of lighting.Thomas P. Hughes, In Technology at the Turning Point, edited by W. B. Pickett[7][8]A
Electricity
Inclined Plane
Ex: Ramp
An inclined plane is a flat slanted surface that allows you to exert your input force over a longer distance.
Wedge
Ex: Splitting wood with an ax.
A Wedge is a divice that is thick at one end and tapers to a thin edge at the other end.
Screws
Ex: A wood screw.
A screw is an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder.
Levers
Ex. Pulling a nail from a board with the claw of a hammer.
A lever is a ridgid bar that is free to piviot, or rotate, around a fixed point (flucrum)
Pulley
Ex: Raising and lowering the school flag each day.
A pulley is a grooved wheel with a rope or cable wrapped around it. When you pull the rope you can change
the amout & direction of your input force.
Types of Levers
Diagram 1: The load F on the moving
pulley is balanced by the tension in two
parts of the rope supporting the pulley.
Pulley
Movable pulley
Fixed pulley
Kinds of screw
Sedimentary
Sedimentary Rocks: Photos and facts about clastic, chemical and organic sedimentary rocks.
Breccia
Chert
Conglomerat
Dolomite
e
Iron Ore
Sandstone
Coal
Flint
Shale
Igneous
Metamorphic
Andesite
Basalt
Diorite
Gabbro
Granite
Obsidian
Pegmatite
Rhyolite
Peridotite
Scoria
Amphibolit
e
Gneiss
Hornfels
Marble
Novaculite
Phyllite
Quartzite
Schist
Slate
Pumice
Tuff
Soapstone
Kinds of
Simple
Machin
e
Ki
n
d
s
of
R