Science of Electricity Basics
Everything is made of atoms
To understand electricity, it's important to know something about atoms. Atoms are the building blocks of the universe. Everything in the universe is made of atoms—every star, every tree, and every animal. The human body is made of atoms. Air and water are made of atoms, too. Atoms are so small that millions of them would fit on the head of a pin.
Atoms are made of even smaller particles
The center of an atom is called the nucleus. The nucleus is made of particles called protons and neutrons. Electrons spin around the nucleus in shells a great distance from the nucleus. If the nucleus was the size of a tennis ball, the atom would be the size of a sphere about 1,450 feet in diameter, or about the size of one of the largest sports stadiums in the world. Atoms are mostly empty space.
If the naked eye could see an atom, it would look a little like a tiny center of balls surrounded by giant invisible bubbles (or shells). The electrons would be on the surface of the bubbles, constantly spinning and moving to stay as far away from each other as possible. Electrons are held in their shells by an electrical force.
The protons and electrons of an atom are attracted to each other. They both carry an electrical charge. Protons have a positive charge (+) and electrons have a negative charge (-). The positive charge of the protons is equal to the negative charge of the electrons. Opposite charges attract each other. An atom is in balance when it has an equal number of protons and electrons. The neutrons carry no charge and their number can vary.
The number of protons in an atom determines the kind of atom, or element, it is. An element is a substance consisting of one type of atom (the Periodic Table shows all the known elements), all with the same number of protons. Every atom of hydrogen, for example, has one proton, and every atom of carbon has six protons. The number of protons determines which element an atom is.
Electricity is the movement of electrons between atoms
Electrons usually remain a constant distance from the atom's nucleus in precise shells. The shell closest to the nucleus can hold two electrons. The next shell can hold up to eight. The outer shells can hold even more. Some atoms with many protons can have as many as seven shells with electrons in them.
The electrons in the shells closest to the nucleus have a strong force of attraction to the protons. Sometimes, the electrons in an atom's outermost shells do not have a strong force of attraction to the protons. These electrons can be pushed out of their orbits. Applying a force can make them shift from one atom to another. These shifting electrons are electricity.
Static electricity exists in nature
Lightning is a form of electricity. Lightning is electrons moving from one cloud to another or electrons jumping from a cloud to the ground. Have you ever felt a shock when you touched an object after walking across a carpet? A stream of electrons jumped to you from that object. This is called static electricity.
Have you ever made your hair stand straight up by rubbing a balloon on it? If so, you rubbed some electrons off the balloon. The electrons moved into your hair from the balloon. The electrons tried to get far away from each other by moving to the ends of your hair. They pushed against or repelled each other and made your hair move. Just as opposite charges attract each other, like charges repel each other.
Magnets and Electricity
Source: National Energy Education Development Project (public domain)
The spinning of the electrons around the nucleus of an atom creates a tiny magnetic field. The electrons in most objects spin in random directions, and their magnetic forces cancel each other out.
Magnets are different because the molecules in magnets are arranged so that their electrons spin in the same direction. This arrangement and movement creates a magnetic force that flows out from a north-seeking pole and from a south-seeking pole. This magnetic force creates a magnetic field around a magnet.
Have you ever held two magnets close to each other? They don't act like most objects. If you try to push the two north poles or two south poles together, they repel each other. But if you put a north pole and a south pole together, the magnets will stick together because the north and south poles attract each other. Just like protons and electrons—opposites attract in magnets.
Magnetic fields can be used to make electricity
The properties of magnets can be used to make electricity. Moving magnetic fields pull and push electrons. Metals such as copper have electrons that are loosely held, so moving magnets can easily push the electrons in copper wires.
By using moving magnets and copper wire together, electric generators create electricity. Electric generators essentially convert kinetic energy (the energy of motion) into electrical energy.
Batteries, Circuits, & Transformers
Batteries produce electricity
Source: Adapted from National Energy Education Development Project (public domain)
An electrochemical battery produces electricity using two different metals in a chemical solution. A chemical reaction between the metals and the chemicals frees more electrons in one metal than it does in the other. One end of the battery is attached to one of the metals, and the other end is attached to the other metal.
The end that frees more electrons develops a positive charge, and the other end develops a negative charge. If a wire is attached from one end of the battery to the other, electrons flow through the wire to balance the electrical charge.
An electrical load is a device that uses electricity to do work or to perform a job. If an electrical load—such as an incandescent light bulb—is placed along the wire, the electricity can do work as it flows through the wire. Electrons flow from the negative end of the battery through the wire to the light bulb. The electricity flows through the wire in the light bulb and back to the positive end of the battery.
Electricity travels in circuits
Electricity must have a complete path, or electrical circuit, before the electrons can move. If a circuit is open, the electrons cannot flow. When a light switch is turned on, a circuit is closed. The electricity flows from an electric wire, through the light bulb, and back out another wire. The light bulb produces light as electricity flows through a tiny wire in the bulb, gets very hot, and glows.
When the switch is turned off, the circuit is opened and no electricity flows to the light. The light bulb burns out when the tiny wire breaks and the circuit is opened.
When a television is turned on, electricity flows through wires inside the television, producing pictures and sound. Sometimes electricity runs motors like in washers or mixers.
Source: Adapted from National Energy Education Development Project (public domain)
Transformers help to move electricity efficiently over long distances
To solve the problem of sending electricity over long distances, William Stanley developed a device called a transformer. A transformer allows electricity to be efficiently transmitted over long distances. A transformer also makes it possible to supply electricity to homes and businesses located far from electric generating plants.
A transformer changes the voltage of electricity in power lines. The electricity produced by a generator travels along cables to a transformer, which then changes electricity from low voltage to high voltage. Electricity can be moved long distances more efficiently using high voltage. Transmission lines are used to carry the electricity to a substation. Substations have transformers that change the high voltage electricity into lower voltage electricity. From the substation, distribution lines carry the electricity to homes, offices, and factories that all use low voltage electricity.
Measuring Electricity
Electricity is measured in watts and kilowatts
Source: Stock photography (copyrighted)
Source: Stock photography (copyrighted)
Electricity is measured in units of power called Watts. A Watt is the unit of electrical power equal to one ampere under a pressure of one volt. It was named to honor James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine.
One Watt is a small amount of power. Some devices require only a few watts to operate, and other devices require larger amounts. The consumption of small devices is usually measured in Watts, and the consumption of larger devices is measured in kilowatts (kW), or 1,000's of Watts.
Electricity generation capacity is typically measured in multiples of kW, such as megawatts (MW) and gigawatts (GW). One MW is 1,000 kW, and one GW is 1,000 MW.
Electricity use over time is measured in Watthours
A Watthour is equal to the energy of one Watt supplied to, or taken from, an electric circuit steadily for one hour. The amount of electricity a power plant generates or the amount of electricity an electric utility customer uses over a period of time is typically measured in kilowatthours (kWh), which is the number of kilowatts generated or consumed in one hour.
For example, if you use a 40-Watt (0.04 kilowatt) light bulb for five hours, you have used 200 Watthours, or 0.2 kilowatthours, of electrical energy.
Utility companies measure and monitor electricity use with meters
Electric utilities measure the electricity consumption of their customers with meters that are usually located on the outside of the customer's property where the power line enters the property. In the past, all electricity meters were mechanical devices that had to be read manually by a utility employee. Eventually automated reader devices were developed that reported electricity use from mechanical meters with an electronic signal on a periodic basis. Now, electronic smart meters can be used to measure electricity consumption on a real-time basis and can provide access to the data using wireless networks and the Internet. Some smart meters can even measure the use of individual devices and allow the utility or customer to control electricity use remotely.
How Electricity is Generated
How electricity is generated
Source: Adapted from Energy for Keeps (public domain)
In 1831, scientist Michael Faraday discovered that when a magnet is moved inside a coil of wire, an electric current flows in the wire. An electricity generator is a device that converts a form of energy into electricity. Generators operate because of the relationship between magnetism and electricity. Generators that convert kinetic (mechanical) energy into electrical energy produce nearly all of the electricity that consumers use.
A common method of producing electricity is from generators with an electromagnet—a magnet produced by electricity—not a traditional magnet. The generator has a series of insulated coils of wire that form a stationary cylinder. This cylinder surrounds a rotary electromagnetic shaft. When the electromagnetic shaft rotates, it induces a small electric current in each section of the wire coil. Each section of the wire coil becomes a small, separate electric conductor. The small currents of the individual sections combine to form one large current. This current is the electricity that moves through power lines from generators to consumers.
An electric power plant uses a turbine or other similar machine to drive these types of generators. Other types of turbines are steam turbines, gas combustion turbines, water turbines, and wind turbines.
A turbine converts the kinetic energy of a moving fluid (liquid or gas) to mechanical energy. In a turbine generator, a moving fluid pushes a series of blades mounted on a shaft, which rotates the shaft connected to a generator. The generator, in turn, converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy based on the relationship between magnetism and electricity.
Steam turbines that use biomass, coal, geothermal energy, natural gas, nuclear energy, and solar thermal energy produce about 70% of U.S. electricity generation. These types of power plants are about 35% efficient, which means that for every 100 units of primary heat energy that goes into a power plant, only 35 units are converted to useable electrical energy.
Other types of devices that generate or produce electricity include electrochemical batteries, fuel cells, solar photovoltaic cells, and thermoelectric generators.