Electric Power

Dear Students,

                

Our last and final step/post in this is about electrical power. Rather, how electricity is generated and manages to arrive at your home and consistently work.
               

In order to produce electricity, most times than not, spinning turbines are needed. The turbines, powered by wind, coal, or water, spin rapidly around a coil of wire with a magnet inside of it. The rapid movement causes the electrons to move and produces an electrical current. It, then, is put through as series of transformers that increase the voltage of it in order to go through thick transmission lines. This is because there are long distances, and the high voltage makes it able to last. The electricity is finally distributed through a substation, stepping down the voltage so that it fits the home. It goes through the electric meter into the home’s network and just like magic, the power is on!
                

If you look around your area of living, you may see a green box or something of that sort—that’s a distributor! It’s what powers your home. When you touch it, it’s warm because it’s moving all this electricity and particles around that it just has to be warm.
                

Of course, there are more complicated steps that require math and programs and such, but that is the generalized process of it.

                

Thank you for learning with us!

               ~The Scientists

Electric Safety!

Dear Students,

                

This is an important post, as we are going to discuss safety with electrical circuits and parts. As we have previously discussed, there are a lot of factors when it comes to electricity. Some of which, such as Ohm’s Law and the circuits themselves do not pertain to this post as much; but, there are some factors, such as conductors and insulators, that really help us in trying to create a safe environment for all.
                

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) make sure that everything is safe and overall harmless to be around in business environments. They try to ensure that very few electrical mistakes are made because of the fact that over hundreds of people die due to mis-wirings or just bad construction. OSHA provides state plans to assure that safety is a number one priority in the workplace.
               

What are the proper safety guidelines, you may ask?
                

First, you must make sure that no wires are exposed, as they have the potential to electrocute you. Remember, there are billions upon trillions of electrons that are flying through that wire per second, and the human body is a decently good conductor, so beware!
                

Insulated wires, such as wires that are covered in some sort of rubber or plastic, are a MUST. Do not leave your wires unexposed, unless you’re told otherwise by a professional. Also, make sure that there is no water near your circuit or wire, as it will short-circuit and if you touch it, it will electrocute you. However, if you leave it alone, it still produces sort of a mess that needs to be cleaned up.
                

Make sure that if you handle thick metal wires that you wear specifically-designed gloves, or else you will get shards of metal in your hands! We do not think that that is really pleasant. If you get an exposed, running wire under your skin, you will most likely die, as your body is made up of over 70% water (a conductor) and the electrons in the wire are extremely close to the electrons in your body.
                

Also, make sure that your wires are properly covered. If they are underground, double check every now and then and make sure that no wires are exposed to the elements, or else there may be troubles up ahead. Confirm that all electrical sockets in your house (if not in use) are plugged in using those plastic covers. This prevents any small children from being too curious and sticking a fork in the socket.

                

We hope that this helps you become a safer and more aware scientist!
                  ~The Scientists. 

Ohm's Law

Hello dear Students!
               

This lesson will be quick and painless, as this is one of the easiest things to learn: Ohm’s Law! (Or My Law!)

Named after me, Georg Ohm, Ohm’s Law can be rearranged into three different equations:

                

V=IR

I=V/R

R=V/I

If you have the original Ohm’s Law (V=IR), you can double the current by taking away half of the resistance. However, if you half the current, you have twice the resistance. All three things, resistance, voltage, and current depend and relate to one another.
                

The whole purpose of this is to illustrate the relationship between Voltage, Current, and resistance, and tie in how they correlate to one another evenly.
                

You use Ohm’s Law when you’re trying to solve problems for circuits, or if you’re simply attempting to find how many ohms or how many volts an objects has. Though there is very little information on it except for the basic principle, people consider the “law” I developed as one of the most important tools in electric physics.
               

I hope you enjoyed my discovery and use it to your advantage one day!

                ~Georg Ohm (and The Scientists)

Electric Current

Good day to you, Scientists!
               

Today, I shall discuss the electrical current, of which I founded!
                

An electrical current is the rate of charge flow at a given point. What this basically means is: how fast the electrons go at a point. It is measured in Amperes, named after me, André Ampere, but can also be measured in Coulombs per second.
                

One easy way to remember this is:
                               
                                1 Ampere=1 C/s=6.24x10^18 electrons per second

                

Now, when it is used in equations such as Ohm’s Law, current is labeled as “I”. Equations such as P=IV (Power=Current times Voltage), V=IR (Voltage=Current times Resistance) and I=Q/T (Current is equal to Charge divided by Time) use current constantly. Current is a rate quantity, much like velocity is. Though in a circuit, electrons move from negative to positive, current goes from positive to negative.
               

Current flows through conductors pretty easily; this is because the conductors actually help along the electrons that are flowing. Conductivity is based on an objects resistance (or lack thereof) to the movement of electrons. Without electrical charge, there would be no electric current, so count yourself lucky that we discovered these.
                

Imagine a motorcycle gang speeding down an empty highway: each person could equal tens of thousands of electrons, and there still would be more electrons left to move!
                

One strange thing about current is that it is scalar and not a vector even though it is said that it has a magnitude and a direction! Think about that while you have free time.
               

I am such a genius!
               ~Andre Ampere (and the Scientists)

Site: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elecur.html
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circuits/u9l2c.cfm
http://www.scienceclarified.com/Di-El/Electric-Current.html#b

Electric Charge

Hello Students!

               

If there is one thing to know about science, it is charge! No, not like charging a cell phone, but more like the individual particles of a molecule!
                

Charge is first spotted with Thales of Miletus in 600 BC when he rubbed two fur objects together, creating a static charge. (Refer back to Static Electricity). Usually, charge is split up into two categories: Positive and Negative.
                

Positive charge is where there are more protons than electrons, while negatively charged particles have more electrons than protons. Usually, like charges repel one another while different charges attract. Think of it like this: If you have two slices of bread with peanut butter on it, it’s too much peanut butter and likewise if you have the same situation with jelly. But with one peanut butter slice and one jelly slice, it creates a perfect attraction.
                

Charge is measured in coulombs, which is named after our dear friend Charles Coulomb. One Coulomb is 6.24x10^18 electrons. That’s a lot! But if you think about it, electrons are so small and there’s so many of them in one spot that it actually makes sense.
               

One important thing to remember, though, is the Conservation of Charge, which (as mentioned in a previous post) states that charge can neither be created nor destroyed. This is important because charge is a very simple form of energy, and if you can destroy/create that, you can do that with anything! Benjamin Franklin was the first one (or so it should seem) to document this, stating:

“It is now discovered and demonstrated, both here and in Europe, that the Electrical Fire is a real Element, or Species of Matter, not created by the Friction, but collected only.

—Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Cadwallader Colden, 5 June 1747^[2]”

Now that you know the base knowledge of charge, it should hopefully help! 

~The Scientists

Series and Parallel Circuits

Hello!

                

Today, we shall talk about Series and Parallel circuits! Now, a circuit is simply a connection of wires with various things attached to it, such as a resistor or a light bulb. With a power source, you can create a voltage, which in turn directs a current.
               

A series circuit is just one long connection of wire with at least a power source and a resistor, such as a lightbulb. The current in a series circuit is always the same, and you can find this by switching around Ohm’s Law, which is V=IR. By switching things around, you can find current: I=V/R. When you try to find the resistance, you just add all the resistors together.
                

The parallel circuit is different, because not only is it multiple wires that split off with their own current, but they also have their own resistors. The voltage is the same throughout the circuit, and the current is usually all the currents from the resistors added together. To find the resistance, you simply just take the inverse of all the resistors added together.
                

Can you tell which one is which?

Now, this might seem slightly boring to you, but your whole life functions from these silly little things. Without these, you wouldn’t have video games or a microwave, or even electricity in your house! So be thankful that these things are here. However, usually you find a combination of series and parallel circuits, but that’s for another day.

               

  Keep learning!

                    ~The Scientists

Conductors/Insulators

Hello dear Scientists!
              
 In addition to Coulomb’s static electricity, we have discovered conductors and insulators. Conductors allow electric current to flow through easily while insulators make it so that they cannot flow as freely. Insulators tend to have a great resistance, while conductors do not. This is why when you have a circuit; metal wires are used because they have good conductivity. However, people cover them in an insulator (such as rubber or plastic) as a safety precaution—just so that they will not get electrocuted!
              
For conductors, the charged ions tend to distribute itself evenly, but in insulators it can’t. Think about this: If you’re fishing and you have a bunch of holes in your net, the fish swim through really easily. However, if your net has very small or a little amount of holes in it, the fish can’t swim through all that well, and you collect more fish that way!
                

Metals and water tend to be really good conductors. Even the human body serves as a good conductor. That means you need to watch out for electricity so that you don’t hurt yourself! Insulators are usually Styrofoam, paper, rubber, glass, and dry air.  In winter, your hair gets more static-like in winter. It has charge build-ups, so that the charge in your hair is a lot more than usual and creates this imbalance. This is another reason why our hair is so wonderfully crazy in Winter!
                
I hope this helps you and your future endeavors to understand the world around you!
              
  Yours truly,
                               ~ The Scientists
Sites: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/estatics/u8l1d.cfm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/circuits_conductors.shtml