Electricity

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"Electric" redirects here. For other uses, see Electric (disambiguation) and Electricity (disambiguation).
Lightning is one of the most dramatic effects of electricity.

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.

electric current: a movement or flow of electrically charged particles, typically measured in

amperes.

electromagnets: Moving charges produce a magnetic field. Electrical currents generate magnetic
fields, and changing magnetic fields generate electrical currents.

In electrical engineering, electricity is used for:

electric power where electric current is used to energise equipment;

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.

An atom is the basic unit that makes up all matter.

There are many different types of atoms, each with its own name, mass and size. These different types of
atoms are called chemical elements. The chemical elements are organized on the periodic table. Examples of
elements are hydrogen and gold. Atoms are very small, but the exact size changes depending on the element.
Atoms range from 0.1 to 0.5 nanometers in width.[1] One nanometer is around 100,000 times smaller than the
width of a human hair.[2] This makes atoms impossible to see without special tools. Equations must be used
to see the way they work and how they interact with other atoms.
Atoms come together to make molecules or particles: for example, two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen
atom combine to make a water molecule, a form of a chemical reaction.
Atoms themselves are made up of three kinds of smaller particles, called protons (which are positively
charged), neutrons (which have no charge) and electrons (which are negatively charged). The protons and
neutrons are in the middle of the atom. They are called the nucleus. They are surrounded by a cloud of
electrons which are attracted to the nucleus' positive charge. This attraction is called electromagnetic force.
Protons and neutrons are made up of even smaller particles called quarks. Electrons are elementary or
fundamental particles; they cannot be split into smaller parts.
The number of protons, neutrons and electrons an atom has determines what element it is. Hydrogen, for
example, has one proton, no neutrons and one electron; the element sulfur has 16 protons, 16 neutrons and
16 electrons.
Atoms move faster when in gas form (as they are free to move) than liquid and solid matter. In solid
materials the atoms are tightly next to each other so they vibrate, but are not able to move (there is no room)
as atoms in liquids do.

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.

Parts of a Simple Circuit

Learning about electricity and electronics can seem complicated, but most circuits can be broken into simple
parts. You can understand the simple parts more easily and gain an understanding of how all circuits work.
All circuits have a power source, a load that consumes power and wiring to carry current. They may have
one or more switches to turn the circuit on and off or direct current to different parts of the circuit. And they
may have a fuse or circuit breaker to provide safety.

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.

Types Of Electrical Circuits

There are basicly three types of basic electronic circuits a Series Circuit, Parallel Circuit, and Series
Parallel Circuit this is a combination of both series and parallel circuits.
Series Circuit:
A series circuit has more than one resistor (anything that uses electricity to do work) and gets its name
from only having one path for the charges to move along. Charges must move in "series" first going to
one resistor then the next. If one of the items in the circuit is broken then no charge will move through
the circuit because there is only one path. There is no alternative route
Parallel Circuit:
A parallel circuit has more than one resistor (anything that uses electricity to do work) and gets its name
from having multiple (parallel) paths to move along . Charges can move through any of several paths. If
one of the items in the circuit is broken then no charge will move through that path, but other paths will
continue to have charges flow through them. Parallel circuits are found in most household electrical wiring.
Series Parallel Circuit:
The type of circuit is a combination of both series and parallel. Electric current travels through both
circuits.

Battery cell types

Many types of electrochemical cells have been produced, with varying chemical processes and designs,
including galvanic cells, electrolytic cells, fuel cells, flow cells and voltaic piles.[25]

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

Line art drawing of a dry cell:

1. brass cap, 2. plastic seal, 3. expansion space, 4. porous cardboard, 5. zinc can, 6. carbon rod, 7. chemical
mixture.
A dry cell uses a paste electrolyte, with only enough moisture to allow current to flow. Unlike a wet cell, a
dry cell can operate in any orientation without spilling, as it contains no free liquid, making it suitable for
portable equipment. By comparison, the first wet cells were typically fragile glass containers with lead rods
hanging from the open top and needed careful handling to avoid spillage. Leadacid batteries did not
achieve the safety and portability of the dry cell until the development of the gel battery.
A common dry cell is the zinccarbon battery, sometimes called the dry Leclanch cell, with a nominal
voltage of 1.5 volts, the same as the alkaline battery (since both use the same zincmanganese dioxide
combination).
A standard dry cell comprises a zinc anode, usually in the form of a cylindrical pot, with a carbon cathode in
the form of a central rod. The electrolyte is ammonium chloride in the form of a paste next to the zinc anode.
The remaining space between the electrolyte and carbon cathode is taken up by a second paste consisting of
ammonium chloride and manganese dioxide, the latter acting as a depolariser. In some designs, the
ammonium chloride is replaced by zinc chloride.
Molten salt

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.

In addressing the question of who invented the incandescent lamp, historians

Robert Friedel and Paul Israel[6] list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas
Edison. They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of
three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use

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

fluorescent lamp or a fluorescent tube is a low pressure

mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to
produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites
mercury vapor which produces short-wave ultraviolet light
that then causes a phosphor coating on the inside of the
bulb to glow. A fluorescent lamp converts electrical energy
into useful light much more efficiently than incandescent
lamps. The luminous efficacy of a fluorescent light bulb can
exceed 100 lumens per watt, several times the efficacy of
an incandescent bulb with comparable light output.

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)

Wheel (and axel)

Ex: Screw Driver (Handle = wheel & Shaft = axel)
A wheel & axel is a simple machine made of 2 circular or cylindrical objects that are fastened together &
rotate about a common axel.

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.

end, and the weight is in the middle of the stick.

Some common second-class levers are doors,
staplers, wheelbarrows, and can openers.

Types of Levers

There are three different kinds of levers.

A first-class lever is a stick where the fulcrum is
between the weight and the energy moving the
weight (your hands, for example). Some common
first-class levers are see-saws, crowbars, pliers,
scissors (which use two first-class levers
together), and a hammer pulling a nail.

A second-class lever is a stick where the fulcrum

is at one end of the stick, you push on the other

A third-class lever is a stick where the fulcrum is

at one end of the stick, you push on the middle,
and the weight is at the other end of the stick.
With a third-class lever, you have to put in more
energy than you would just lifting the weight, but
you get the weight to move a longer distance in
return. Some common examples are a broom, a
hoe, a fishing rod, a baseball bat, and our own
human arms.


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

A pulley is a wheel on an axle that is designed to

support movement and change of direction of a
cable or belt along its circumference.[1] Pulleys are
used in a variety of ways to lift loads, apply
forces, and to transmit power. In nautical contexts,
the assembly of wheel, axle, and supporting shell
is referred to as a "block."
A pulley is also called a sheave or drum and may
have a groove between two flanges around its
circumference. The drive element of a pulley
system can be a rope, cable, belt, or chain that
runs over the pulley inside the groove.
Hero of Alexandria identified the pulley as one of
six simple machines used to lift weights.[2] Pulleys
are assembled to form a block and tackle in order
to provide mechanical advantage to apply large
forces. Pulleys are also assembled as part of belt
and chain drives in order to transmit power from
one rotating shaft to another.[3][4]

Fixed pulley

Diagram 2: A movable pulley lifting the

load W is supported by two rope parts with
tension W/2.
These are different types of pulley systems:

Fixed: A fixed pulley has an axle mounted

in bearings attached to a supporting
structure. A fixed pulley changes the
direction of the force on a rope or belt that
moves along its circumference.
Mechanical advantage is gained by
combining a fixed pulley with a movable
pulley or another fixed pulley of a
different diameter.

Movable: A movable pulley has an axle in

a movable block. A single movable pulley
is supported by two parts of the same rope
and has a mechanical advantage of two.

to the moving pulley. The tension in the

rope is W/3 yielding an advantage of three.

Compound: A combination of fixed and a

movable pulleys forms a block and tackle.
A block and tackle can have several
pulleys mounted on the fixed and moving
axles, further increasing the mechanical
advantage.

Diagram 3: The gun tackle

"rove to advantage" has the rope attached

Diagram 3a: The Luff tackle adds a fixed

pulley "rove to disadvantage." The tension
in the rope remains W/3 yielding an
advantage of three.

Do you Know the Different Parts of a Screw?

There are three parts of a screw, they are the head, shank and thread.
The Head has the slots for the turning tool to fit into.
The Shank is the smooth part above the thread and below the head.
The Thread is the tapering groove that spirals towards the tip. This cuts into the wood as it is turned
then pulls the screw into the hole.

Kinds of screw

Rocks: Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary

Rocks hold the history of the earth and the materials that will be used to build its future

Sedimentary

Sedimentary Rocks: Photos and facts about clastic, chemical and organic sedimentary rocks.

Breccia

Chert

Conglomerat
Dolomite
e

Iron Ore

Sandstone

Coal

Flint

Limestone Rock Salt

Shale

Igneous

Metamorphic

Igneous Rocks: Photos, descriptions

and facts about intrusive and extrusive
igneous rocks.

Metamorphic Rocks: Photos,

descriptions and facts about foliated
and non-foliated metamorphic rocks.

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