Introduction to electricity 1

ELECTRICITY WAS NOT INVENTED

• It occurs naturally in our

world, and always has.

People, however, can be

credited with inventing ways

to measure it and to control it

for our use.

• Without the important

discoveries of these energy

pioneers we would not be

able to benefit from the value

that having a steady supply of

electricity brings to our lives.

*ELECTRO FROM SPIDERMAN ;)

ATOMS

• The basic building blocks of ordinary matter.

Atoms can join together to form molecules,

which in turn form most of the objects

around you.

• composed of particles

called protons, electrons and neutrons.

ATOM MODEL

PROTONS

• These parts of an atom have a positive

charge.

• In the middle of the atom, called the nucleus

and they do not move.

NEUTRONS

• These parts of an atom have no charge.

• Neutral and part of the nucleus of an atom

with the protons.

ELECTRONS

• These parts of the atom are very small and weigh a lot less then the protons and neutrons.

• Are not part of the nucleus of the atom, instead they move around in orbits outside the nucleus.

• Electrons are the only part of an atom that moves.

ELECTRICITY

• The flow of moving electrons.

• When the electrons flow it is called

an electrical current.

ELECTRICITY

• Electricity was not invented - it occurs naturally

in our world, and always has.

• People, however, can be credited with

inventing ways to measure it and to control it

for our use.

• Without the important discoveries of these

energy pioneers we would not be able to

benefit from the value that having a steady

supply of electricity brings to our lives.

AMBER

• Around 600 BC Greeks found

that by rubbing a hard

fossilized resin (Amber) against

a fur cloth, it would attract

particles of straw. This strange

effect remained a mystery for

over 2000 years.

AMBER AND FUR CLOTH

ELECTRICITY PIONEERS

WILLIAM GILBERT

• A physician who studied the

attraction produced when

materials were rubbed, and

named it the "electric" attraction.

• From that came the word

"electricity" and all others derived

from it.

GEORGE JOHNSTONE STONEY

He proposed the

name "electron."

Unit of electric charge

which could not be

subdivided any further.

JOSEPH JOHN THOMSON

He discovered and

identified electron.

He won the Nobel Prize

in 1906 for his

discovery.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

• He believed that lightning was a

flow of electricity taking place in

nature.

• He performed his famous kite

experiment in 1752 which proved

that electricity and lightning was

the same thing.

LUIGI ALOISIO GALVANI

• An Italian physician, physicist

and philosopher who discovered

that the muscles of dead frogs

legs twitched when struck by an

electrical spark.

• This was one of the first forays

into the study of bioelectricity, a

field that still studies the electrical

patterns and signals of

the nervous system.

ALESSANDRO GIUSEPPE

ANTONIO ANASTASIO VOLTA

• an Italian physicist known for the

invention of the battery in the

1800s.

• Alessandro Volta

VOLTAIC PILE

• The first electrochemical

cell.

• It consists of two electrodes:

one made of zinc, the other

of copper.

MICHAEL FARADAY

• was an English scientist who

contributed to the fields of

electromagnetism and electroche

mistry.

• His main discoveries include

those of electromagnetic

induction, diamagnetism and

electrolysis.

DC VS AC

THOMAS EDISON

• In the late 1800's he developed

1,093 inventions, but his most

famous is the incandescent light

bulb.

• Inventor of DC (Direct Current)

Generator

SIR JOSEPH WILSON SWAN

• a British physicist and chemist.

He is most famous for inventing

an incandescent light bulb.

• Swan and Edison later set up a

joint company to produce the first

practical filament lamp. Prior to

this, electric lighting had been

crude arc lamps.

DC GENERATOR

NIKOLA TESLA

• was a Serbian American

inventor, electrical

engineer, mechanical engineer,

and futurist best known for his

contributions to the design of the

modern alternating current (AC)

electricity supply system.

• Inventor of AC induction motor

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JR.

• a famous American inventor

and industrialist who

purchased and developed

Nikola Tesla's patented

motor for generating

alternating current.

AC INDUCTION MOTOR

JAMES WATT

• the Scottish inventor of

the steam condensing

engine.

• his name was given to the

electric unit of power, the

Watt.