Electricity.
What is electricity?
Now a day, the whole civilization is dependable on electricity. It is s a secondary source of energy. It is a secondary source of energy because it is converted into energy from different primary sources of energy like, coal, natural gas, oil, water and nuclear power. It is mainly the flow of electrical power or charge.
Discovery of electricity:
The discovery of electricity has a great history. It was discovered from a prominent American scientist named Benjamin Franklin from his famous kite experiment. In this experiment, Franklin tied a key to a kite string during a thunderstorm and proved that static electricity and lightening were same.
Revolutionary inventions after the discovery of electricity:
Many revolutionary changes happened after the invention of electricity. Those revolutionary changes acts like blessings for the modern civilization. A brief discussion on the revolutionary inventions are described below-
The world’s first current and electric motor was invented by Michael Faraday.
Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb.
The world’s first modern power grid was invented by Samuel Insull.
As the decades past, most of the generation was done by using fossil fuels, coal, gas etc. As a result, the whole world began to focus on the invention of renewable energy such as, wind power or hydro-power. In the early 1930s, it was invented with the construction of Hoover Dam.
Production of Electricity:
Production of Electricity:
- It is usually generated by electro-mechanical generators driven by steam produced from fossil fuel combustion, or from current of water or wind again from nuclear reactions.
- An electric generator is a device that converts a form of energy into electrical energy. There are many types of it’s generators.
- In turbine driven generators, water, steam or air pushes a series of blades mounted on a rotor shaft. The rotor shaft converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy.
- Steam turbines are used to generate the majority of the world’s electricity. Steam turbines have a boiler in which fuel is burned to produce hot water and steam powers a turbine that drives a generator.
- Hydro-electric turbines use the force of moving water to spin turbine blades to power a generator.
- Wind turbines use the power in wind to move the blades of a rotor to power a generator.
Importance:
It is the best and convenient way to transfer energy. Generally, people uses electricity for lighting, heating, cooling and refrigeration, and for operating electronics compliances like computer and television.
Uses of electricity in heating and refrigeration:
In the summer, a huge amount of electrical power is consumed in cooling or refrigeration demand. Due to extreme hot, electrical appliances like air conditioner, refrigerators are indispensable in day to day life. Again, during winter it is used in a large amount for heating. Not only that, it consumes a huge energy for heating in the industrial sectors.
Uses of electricity for electronics appliances:
If we discuss about the electronics appliances, the first thing we can discuss is the computer. At present electronics devices like computer, laptop, mobile phone etc. cannot go without it.
Uses of it in industrial sector:
The industrial sector uses it for operating industrial motors and machinery, lights, computers and different office equipment. Super markets, manufacturing industries, transport and travel industries are mostly dependent on electricity.
Electricity and present environment:
Everything has both a good and bad side. Though it is an indispensable part of modern civilization, in spite of that it has some harmful effects for the natural environment.
Harmful effects of power-plant electricity:
At present, many countries of the world have invented nuclear power station for the production of it. Every power- plant stations required a vast are for it implementation. Again, nuclear power-plant affects the environment seriously.
Alternatives of electricity:
Scientists are always aware of the alternatives of it. So, there are some alternatives of using it. Such as, solar, wind, bio-gas, geo-thermal, wave and tidal power etc.