ELECTRICITY MAKES THINGS HAPPEN

The Electron Theory consists of the following concepts:

1. All matter is made up of tiny, invisible particles called atoms.

2. The atom is composed of negatively charged particles called electrons (-),
positively charged particles called protons (+), and neutrally charged particles
called neutrons.
3. Proton and neutron have the same mass and are about 1,830 times as heavy
as electron.
4. Every proton carries a unit charge of positive electricity; every electron
carries a unit charge of negative electricity.
5. The atom of any element contains exactly the same number of protons and
electrons, thus the atom is said to be electrically neutral.
6. The dense central portion of the atom — the nucleus, is made up of all the
protons and the neutrons. Thus, the positive charge of the atom is concentrated
in the nucleus.
7. Electron revolves around the nucleus in one or more shells or rings at various
distances.
8. The entire chemical characteristics of an atom depends largely upon the
number of electrons that it has and how these electrons are arranged.
Atomic Structure of Matter
All matter is made up of atoms. An atom is made up of nucleus and
electrons. The nucleus is that part of the atom which is located in its center
as shown in the figure. The electron moves around the nucleus at very high
speeds in orbital paths. The electron is a negatively charged particle.

As can be seen from the figure, the nucleus is made up of two types of
particles namely the proton and the neutron. The proton is positively
charged particle. Its charged is equal in magnitude to the electron but
oppositely charged. The neutron in turn has a neutral charge, meaning that it
is neither negative nor positive charged.
HELIUM ATOMIC STRUCTURE

The atom of Helium is shown. It has 2 electrons, 2 neutrons and 2 protons. An atom always has equal numbers of
electrons and protons. As a result of this equality of numbers the net charge of an atom is always zero. This means that the
charge of the atom is neither negative nor positive but neutral.
Parts of an Atom:
Democritus used the word “atomos” meaning
“indivisible” or “uncattable” to describe the
ultimate building blocks of matter. Atoms result
from the repeated division of mattery to very
tiny, permanent, indivisible, invisible bits of
matter definite size and shape.
 Batteries are classified as wet or dry cells.

Dry cells are cells that use an electrolyte in

paste or gel form. Wet cells on the other hand are
cells that use liquid electrolytes. A dry cell can be
operated in any position whereas a wet cell can only
be used in upright position as tilting it could cause
electrolyte spillage. Carbon-zinc is the most
common dry cell and it is also the cheapest type of
cell. The lead-acid battery that is used in
automobiles is the most common type of wet cell.

Batteries can also be classified as primary

and secondary
Primary cells are cells which cant be
recharged and therefore have to be replaced
with new cells when they are used up. The
carbon-zinc battery is a primary cell.

Secondary cells on the other hands are cells that can

be recharged again a number of times by the
application of a reverse electric current through is
terminals. The lead-acid battery is a secondary cell
and It can be recharge.
2. Generators and Dynamos – these devices generates voltage by moving coils through a magnetic
flux. The coils are usually arranged around a metal rod and made to rotate around an axis. This
rotational motion around the magnetic flux produces current in the coils that generate voltage
across the terminals of the generator. Most of today's electric power supply is derived from the
action of generators and dynamos.

ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION

It has been discussed that a current flowing through a conductor will generate a magnetic field around a
conductor. In a similar manner, when the conductor is moved across a magnetic flux a voltage is induced
in the conductor. This phenomenon is called electromagnetic induction.

In the graphic, when the conductor is moved across the space between the two magnets, the
conductors will cut across the invisible magnetic flux existing between the two poles. Because the
electromagnetic induction, a voltage will be induced across the end terminals of wire. A sensitive
voltmeter connected across the wire will show a needle movement indicating the presence of induced
voltage.

Alternatively the
wire could be held
stationary and the
magnet pair could
be moved up and
down to induce a
voltage in the wire.
This is because the
conductor will still
be cutting across
the magnetic flux
when this is done.
3. Piezoelectric – devices of this type generate voltage by applying
mechanical pressure on a quartz crystal component. A quartz crystal has the
special property called piezoelectricity. A piezoelectric material produces
voltage and its terminal when the material is exposed to varying mechanical
pressure across the faces of its crystalline structure. Piezoelectric devices
generate only small amount of voltage and are used for generation of varying
electric signals for communication devices such as microphones. They are
also used to generate electric signals at specified frequencies. When they are
used as such they are referred to as crystal oscillators and resonators.
4. Photovoltaic cells – voltage is generated by photovoltaic cells, where free electrons are released
by the cells when it is hit by light radiation. Most photovoltaic cells are manufactured to
produced electric energy from solar radiation or sunlight. Because they generate electric power
from sunlight which a free renewable and non-polluting resources, a significant portion of the
world’s electric supply will be derived from photovoltaic cells in the not so remote future. At
present, the cost of photovoltaic cell is a major hurdle in the quest for large scale generation of
voltage. It is generally conceded however than in the near future, at the present scale of research
and development in photovoltaic cells, the cost of production can be brought down such that the
cost of photovoltaic electric energy generation can complete with that of the power generation
from petroleum fuel.

A solar cell consist of two layers of

semiconductor, one p-type and the
other n-type, sandwich together to
form an ‘pn junction’. This pn
interface induces an electric field
across the junction. When particles
of light (‘photons’) are absorbed by
the semiconductor, they transfer
their energy to some of the
semiconductor’s electrons, which
then are able to move about through
the material. For each such
negatively charged electron, a
corresponding mobile positive
charge called a ‘hole’, is created. In
an ordinary semiconductor, these
electrons and holes recombine after
a short time and their energy is
wasted as heat.
How the cells work
When the sunlight passes through the silicon sheets
in the photovoltaic cell, photons from the sunlight
are absorbed. The energy of the photons is
transferred to the semiconductor, knocking loose
free electrons. Electricity is produced.
6. Frictional Energy – Static electricity is generated by the action of friction between two
materials. A most important application is the use of static electricity in electrostatic precipitators
to remove carbon, fly ash, and the other particles from the gases leaving a smokestack.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF POWER PLANT

1. Steam power plants use fuels such as petroleum, coal, or biomass are burned to heat
water to create steam, the pressure of the steam spins a turbine turning the copper wire
inside the generator.

Coal-fired units produce electricity by burning coal

in a boiler to heat water to produce steam. The
steam, at tremendous pressure, flows into a
turbine, which spins a generator to produce
electricity. The steam is cooled, condensed back
into water, and returned to the boiler to start the
process over.
2. Geothermal power plants are steam power plants that tap into steam released from the earth.
Once used the water returned to the ground.

Dry Steam Power Plant. First type of

geothermal power plants constructed are dry
steam. Steam from the geothermal reservoir is
route directly through turbine/generator units
to produce electricity.  The steam eliminates
the need to burn fossil fuels to run the
turbine.

Flash Steam Power Plants

Hydrothermal fluids above 360°F (182°C) can
be used in flash plants to make electricity.
Fluid is sprayed into a tank held at a much
lower pressure than the fluid, causing some
of the fluid to rapidly vaporize, or "flash."
The vapor then drives a turbine, which drives
a generator. If any liquid remains in the tank,
it can be flashed again in a second tank to
extract even more energy.

Binary-Cycle Power Plants

Most geothermal areas contain moderate-
temperature water (below 400°F). Energy is
extracted from these fluids in binary-cycle
power plants. Hot geothermal fluid and a
secondary (hence, "binary") fluid with a much
lower boiling point than water pass through a
heat exchanger. Heat from the geothermal fluid
causes the secondary fluid to flash to vapor,
which then drives the turbines. Because this is a
closed-loop system, virtually nothing is emitted
to the atmosphere. Moderate-temperature
water is by far the more common geothermal
resource, and most geothermal power plants in
the future will be binary-cycle plants.
3. Gas Power Plants use fuels that are burned to create hot gases to spin the turbine.
4. Nuclear power plants. Nuclear generators use nuclear fission to turn water into steam. This
drives the steam turbine, which spins a generator to produced power. A pound of highly enriched
uranium can power a nuclear submarine or nuclear aircraft carrier is equal to something on the
order of a million gallons of gasoline.
5. Wind power plants use the wind to push against the turbine blades, spinning the copper
wires inside the generator to create am electric current.
 How Wind Power creates
1. The wind presses against the rotor blades and causes the rotor assembly to rotate.
2. The rotor blades transfer their energy to the hub, and set the driveshaft inside the rotor
assembly in rotation.
3. The hub is fitted with a transmission that adjusts the rotor speed to the requirements of...
4. …the generator that converts the rotational energy into electrical power by means of
magnetic fields.
5. The electric power produced by the generator is passed to a transformer that converts the
low voltage generated to a higher voltage suitable for feeding into the grid.
6. Coal Fired Power Plants burn coal to drive a steam engine. Coal is plentiful, but the
collateral damage is extreme.