A Quick Lesson in Electricity
Getting a charge out of life
Your first lesson might have been rubbing a balloon on your head and making your hair stand up. Then you probably learned about Ben Franklin's kite and Thomas Edison's light bulb. Electricity is a pretty rich subject matter for one little web page. But we'll give it a go.
Where to start? Okay, take a deep breath and follow this: There are these tiny little universal building blocks, called atoms. The center of each atom is called the nucleus, and the nucleus comprises particles called protons and neutrons. Electrons spin around the nucleus in shell-like orbits, away from each other. They create magnetic fields. Protons carry a positive charge; electrons carry a negative charge. They are attracted to each other (opposites attract, likes repel - go figure) and balance one another. When electrons are pulled out of their orbits by applying a force to make them move from one atom to another, it's called electricity. We'll have a quiz on Friday.
Lightning is a form of electricity, as is the static electricity that makes your clothes cling to you. The electricity generated between two people who like each other does not count for this discussion. Electricity produced for consumer and industrial use is a secondary energy source. The primary source is the fuel - such as oil or gas - that is used to help generate electricity.
Commercial production of electricity began almost a century ago. Towns were built alongside rivers and waterfalls. The water turned wheels or large blades, which in turn rotated a turbine connected to a generator. Originally everything was direct current (DC), which was hard to transmit. Then in the late 1800s, Nikola Tesla taught us how to generate and transmit alternating current (AC), which could be transmitted over long distances. Good thing, too - riverfront property is impossible to afford these days.
Basically, that's still how most electricity is produced. We burn fossil fuels or use nuclear energy, wind, water or solar power to create steam which turns blades to generate a current, which is high voltage and easier to transmit over cables for long distances. Once it reaches its intended geographic location, it is transformed back into a lower voltage and then transmitted to our homes, schools and work places.
In Connecticut, 53 percent of our electricity is generated by burning coal. Nineteen percent comes from natural gas, 14 percent from nuclear, 7 percent from petroleum, 2 percent from hydro (water) and the balance from other sources like wood, garbage, wind and solar. The national numbers aren't that different, except that 20 percent comes from nuclear energy and 7 percent from hydro.
In your home, electricity flows through wires like water flows through your pressurized pipes. Whenever you flick on a light switch or turn an appliance on, it's like opening a faucet and letting electricity flow into the device to make it work. So, the more switches and device you turn on, the more electricity you use and have to pay for. Multiply that by everyone you know, and everyone they know and don't know, and we're talking some serious energy use.
It's important to understand the benefits and liabilities of energy production and the primary and alternative fuels used to produce or release energy. Being informed and making smart choices are OneThings you can do in your quest to help conserve resources and reduce our dependence on costly and environmentally damaging energy sources.
So take some time to read about the energy sources in the drop down menu. It's powerful learning.