Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on electricity as scientific discovery
Reflection about the history of electricity
Reflection about the history of electricity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays on electricity as scientific discovery
In a recent newspaper article (Guernsey electricity supply ‘more’ expensive in May 2012) it stated that electricity costs are going to increase and supplies would become unreliable or erratic. It is obvious that this will cause a considerable distress and discomfort for the residents of Guernsey because electricity is needed for warmth and lighting. The purpose of this essay is to describe how and why electricity has become such an important part of people’s lives.
By way of background, it is important to state what electricity actually means. According to The Need Project (Electricity: The Mysterious Force), electricity simply means electrons in motion. These electrons are tiny particles found in atoms. An atom consists of protons and neutrons. Protons and electrons are attracted to each other are attracted by each other and carry and electric charge. The proton is positively charged while the electron is negatively charged.
According to The Electricity Forum: Electricity history 2012, electricity was first found in ancient Greece by Greek Philosophers over two thousand years ago. They discovered that when amber and cloth are rubbed against each other, there tends to be a form of attraction between the two. They called it the basics of electricity. Also, the article stated that many electricity-related discoveries were made during that period. In addition, Kowalski, K. M. 2009 stated that before the early 1900’s the source of light was from candles and oil and gas lamps. However, it was very dangerous as it could cause fire explosions.
There have been three respected people whom in the past contributed greatly to the development of electricity. Firstly, Benjamin Franklyn. He was an American scientist who established...
... middle of paper ...
...ion=2&contentSet=GALE%7CA211235661&&docId=GALE|A211235661&docType=GALE&role=ITOF&docLevel=FULLTEXT on 24th May, 2012.
Sharman, F and Parker, B. The History of Electric Supply in the Area. Retrieved from http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/electricity/history1.htm on 22nd June, 2012.
The Electricity Forum: Electricity History. Retrieved from http://www.electricityforum.com/electricity-history.html on 20th May, 2012.
The Electricity Forum: Dangers of Electricity. Retrieved from http://www.electricityforum.com/dangers-of-electricity.html on 24th May, 2012.
The Need Project (Electricity: The Mysterious Force) retrieved from http://www.need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/IntInfo/Elec1I.pdf on 20th May, 2012.
Woodford, C. 2011 Electrical transformers. Retrieved from http://www.explainthatstuff.com/transformers.html on 22nd May, 2012.
This paper is a discussion of the role played by the ideals of the Enlightenment in the invention and assessment of artifacts like the electric battery. The first electric battery was built in 1799 by Alessandro Volta, who was both a natural philosopher and an artisan-like inventor of intriguing machines. I will show that the story of Volta and the battery contains three plots, each characterized by its own pace and logic. One is the story of natural philosophy, a second is the story of artifacts like the battery, and the third is the story of the loose, long-term values used to assess achievement and reward within and outside expert communities. An analysis of the three plots reveals that late eighteenth-century natural philosophers, despite their frequent celebration of 'useful knowledge,' were not fully prepared to accept the philosophical dignity of artifacts stemming from laboratory practice. Their hesitation was the consequence of a hierarchy of ranks and ascribed competence that was well established within the expert community. In order to make artifacts stemming from laboratory practice fully acceptable within the domain of natural philosophy, some important changes had yet to occur. Still, the case overwhelmingly shows that artifacts rightly belong to the long and varied list of items that make up the legacy of the Enlightenment.
Benjamin Franklin is known for conducting lots of experiments dealing with electricity. His most famous being the kite experiment. He became fascinated with electricity when he was accidently shocked in 1746. Benjamin wondered if there was a way to protect buildings and the people inside of them from lightning. He thought that this could benefit people in the
Writers commonly follow the same styles and organizational platforms. The Great Electrical Revolution is a short story that demonstrates the effects of moving to a new country, as well as the different struggles that people are guaranteed face when doing so. In the story the main character moves to Saskatchewan for the opportunity to farm but discovers that he has agoraphobia, the fear of wide open spaces. He is forced to live in the city because of his condition, and as a result of this he picks up the hobby of stealing the city’s electricity. Whale Rider is a film that demonstrates the difficulty of being a woman and constantly failing to measure up to her elders. This film is centered around the idea of tradition: finding the next leader
Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were two of the most influential minds of the 1800s. Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, worked hard his whole life to achieve great feats in science. Tesla, the Master of Lightning, had a brilliant mind and contributed to an electronic growth that changed American history. Thomas Edison is such a familiar name, but Tesla on the other hand is more obscure. Edison is widely known by the American public, but his intellectual equal and adversary is often forgotten. Edison and Tesla were once friends and worked on many projects together, but an argument over a bet changed their friendship and the world forever (D’Alto). Both men challenged each other throughout their lives, and their differences in inventions, productivity, financial success, and fame should have etched their names into history for eternity, but that is not the case. Thomas Edison has always been in the hearts and minds of the American public as the greatest inventor, but the facts may proclaim Nikola Tesla to be the better man and more deserving of the public’s admiration.
Electromagnetism has a history that dates back over 200 years. The year 1700 was the first demonstration of an electromagnet, yet scientists didn't know much about electromagnetism (Bellis 1). In 1820, scientists had just started to get deep into electromagnets, Hans Oersted discovered that a conductor carrying an electric current was surrounded by a magnetic field (Bellis 2). Hans Oersted discovered this because his compass reacted to a battery when he connected them using wires. That is a big breakthrough because they can now make hypotheses about why the wire with current makes a magnetic field to rearrange the compass direction. In 1873, James Maxwell observed the interaction between positive and negative electrical charges (Brian, Looper 2000). Ben Franklin was the person to figure out that there is a positive and negative charge (Bellis 1). Electromagnetism is the branch of physics that studies the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Without magnetism, electricity couldn't exist, without electricity, magnetism couldn't exist.
Hirsch, Sven, and Cornelia Daheim. "The Meaning Of Clean Electricity." World Future Review (World Future Society) 4.2 (2012): 96-101. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.
Using coal is one of the most historical ways to generate electricity around worldwide. According to the book Your World in Motion: The Story of Energy by George Barrow, the author stated that the first time people used thermal power by coal was at north train station Paris in 1875. The technology of the generators, the manufacturing of steam turbines and the power transmissions has been improved step...
The invisible bits of negatively charged matter that move between objects are called electrons. The words electron, electricity, and electronics all come from the Greek word for amber – elektron. The transfer of electrons explains the electric force that attracts the balloon to the wool. Rubbing the neutral balloon with the wool cloth allows some electrons to leave the wool and stick to the balloon.
First off, what is current. Current is expressed in a unit called Amps. Amps are a measurement of how many electrons pass per second. That is to say, a wire with 40 coulombs passing any point in a 2 seconds would be said to have 20 Amps of current (40 Coulombs (a unit of charge given as 6.24x1018 electrons) / time in seconds or in this case, 2 seconds. The Amp is also known as Coulombs per second) Another trick about current is that it is measured in the movement of the positive charge. Literally that is to say the current moves in oppostion to the electrons. This is because originally it was thought that the positive charge is what moved, both are viable, but in reality a positive charge is generally fixed since within an atom the electrons are migratory, while the protons and neutrons tend to be stationary.
“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it (Sullivan 5).” These are the word that Thomas Alva Edison lived his life by. This is why he is known as the greatest inventor in Americas history. Thomas was granted 1093 patents over his life time. Some of the main inventions that changed the world are the electric light bulb, phonograph and movie camera and projector and much more(Jenkins 1). Thomas Edison is well known for his invention of electricity but he has made many more contributions to society.
The history of engineering goes back into the 19th century when Alexander Volta (1745-1827) made a remarkable discover regarding the nature of electricity (Cosgrove 749). He discovered that electrical current could be controlled and could flow from one point to another. By the time the mid-19th century came about the rules for electricity were being established. During this time electromagnetic induction was discovered by Michael Faraday who lived from 1791 to 1867 (749). Also during this time Samuel Morris invented the telegraph in 1837 which relies on the principles of electromagnetic induction (749). Alexander Graham Bell, who lived from 1847 to 1922, created the telephone which also uses electricity in order to operate (749). Through the success of the telephone, Bell Telephone Company was established. In 1878, the light bulb was finally invented by Thomas Edison who lived from 1847 to 1931 (749). Off the principles of Faraday’s electric motor from 1821, Nicholas Tesla invented a more efficient and powerful electric motor in 1888 (749). To make these inventions be more significant, effort was expended to make better motors and transformers and to enhance the power needed to make them function. Through these inventions during the middle 19th century, it led to the capability of lighting homes and cities through the use of electricity, and it also led to the creation of the telephone communication system (750).
Humans these days take electricity for granted. We don’t truly understand what life was like without it. Most young adults will tell you their life does not depend on electricity, but they aren’t fooling anyone. They all know that their life depends on electricity; whether it’s television, their phone, Google, or the lights in their house. We need to stop taking those things for granted and give credit where credit is due. That is why I chose to write about the scientists who contributed to the discovery of electricity, which then helped modern scientists fuel the electricity phenomenons we now have today.
...at there is no electricity so you than grab a candle and light it so you can continue your book. It is past your bedtime and you are tired, before you go to bed you refill the wood stove so you don’t wake up freezing like this morning. Before you go to bed you think about how much we use electricity on a day-to-day basis and how much we depend on it to make our lives easier.
Nikola Tesla is regarded as one of the most brilliant inventors in history. His work provided the basis for the modern alternating current power system, as well as having developed both radio and the fluorescent light bulb. He worked with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others. He was also widely misunderstood by his peers and the public at large.
The effects of electricity control much of our daily lives. Many of our gadgets and everyday tasks are run by this wonderful source of power. For example without electricity we would not be able to make a cup of coffee in the mourning, or even make a long distance call to family or friends. There have been several technological breakthroughs by many brilliant people throughout history regarding electricity. It has come from being discovered as a small current to being transformed into useful power to run such things as computers. Ben Franklin, Guglielmo Marconi, Thomas Edison, Paul Nipkow, and Charles Babbage have all contributed to the advancement of electricity, and all of their advancements have supplied society in many ways.