Sponsored Links

Wind Turbine ControlMain control and pitch systems for wind turbines.www.deifwindpower.com

Permanent magnetgenerators from The Switch. 1-5MW and higher, with different drives.www.TheSwitch.com

Biomass Power GenerationWaste Biomass to Electricity & Heat 10-20kw Turnkey Gasifier-Gensetwww.gekgasifier.com

Theory
An electric generator (Long ago, a machine that generated electricity was named "dynamo" today's preferred term is "generator".) is a device for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. The process is based on the relationship betweenmagnetism and electricity. When a wire or any other electrically conductive material moves across a magnetic field, an electric current occurs in the wire. The large generators used by the electric utility industry have a stationary conductor. A magnet attached to the end of a rotating shaft is positioned inside a stationary conducting ring that is wrapped with a long, continuous piece of wire. When the magnet rotates, it induces a small electric current in each section of wire as it passes. Each section of wire constitutes a small, separate electric conductor. All the small currents of individual sections add up to one current of considerable size. This current is what is used for electric power.

An electric utility power station uses either a turbine, engine, water wheel, or other similar machine to drive an electric generator or a device that converts mechanical or chemical energy to electricity. Steam turbines, internal-combustion engines, gas combustion turbines, water turbines, and wind turbines are the most common methods to generate electricity. Continue...How Electricity is Generated

Timeline - Electronic Inventions 
Timeline - important events in the history.
Understanding - Electric Generators
Electric generators - What it is - how is a transformer used - how it is generated - how are turbines used - how is it measured.
History
Long article on several inventors connected to the field and their inventions.
Electromagnet
An electromagnet is a device in which magnetism is produced by an electric current.
Magnetic Fields : History of ElectromagnetismUntil 1820, the only magnetism known was that of iron magnets and of "lodestones", natural magnets of iron-rich ore. It was believed that the inside of the Earth was magnetized in the same fashion, and scientists were greatly puzzled when they found that the direction of the compass needle at any place slowly shifted, decade by decade, suggesting a slow variation of the Earth's magnetic field.

Electric Generator or Dynamo
Michael Faraday of England and American Joseph Henry separately built the first laboratory models of electric generator in 1832. Frenchmen, Hippolyte Pixii, France built a hand-driven model of an electric generator in 1833. American, Nikola Tesla built the first alternating-current generator in 1892.

Electronics
The history of electronics began to evolve separately from the history of electricity late in the 19th century. The English physicist J.J. Thomson identified the electron by and the American physicist Robert A. Millikan measured its electric charge in 1909.

Famous Inventors Involved in the History of Electricity and Electronics

Andre-Marie Ampere Otis Boykin Rudolf Diesel Thomas Edison Michael Faraday Benjamin Franklin Luigi Galvani William Gilbert Otto von Guericke Joseph Henry Charles Franklin Kettering Lewis Latimer

James Clerk Maxwell Isaac Newton Hans Christian Oersted Georg Ohm Lester Pelton Charles Proteus Steinmetz William Stanley, Jr. Nikola Tesla Alessandro Volta George Westinghouse Granville Woods

Electricity - Electronics

---

Electricity is a form of energy involving the flow of electrons. All matter is made up of atoms, and an atom has a center, called a nucleus. The nucleus contains positively charged particles called protons and uncharged particles called neutrons. The nucleus of an atom is surrounded by negatively charged particles called electrons. The negative charge of an electron is equal to the positive charge of a proton, and the number of electrons in an atom is usually equal to the number of protons. When the balancing force between protons and electrons is upset by an outside force, an atom may gain or lose an electron. When electrons are "lost" from an atom, the free movement of these electrons constitutes an electric current.

Electricity is a basic part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. We get electricity, which is a secondary energy source, from the conversion of other sources of energy, like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources, which are called primary sources. Many cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls (a primary source of mechanical energy) that turned water wheels to perform work. Before electricity generation began slightly over 100 years ago, houses were lit with kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's experiment with a kite one stormy night in Philadelphia, the principles of electricity gradually became understood. In the mid-1800s, everyone's life changed with the invention of the electric light bulb. Prior to 1879, electricity had been used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. The lightbulb's invention used electricity to bring indoor lighting to our homes.

Electrical work

Humans have an intimate relationship with electricity, to the point that it's virtually impossible to separate your life from it. Sure, you can flee from the world of crisscrossing power lines and live your life completely off the grid, but even at the loneliest corners of the world, electricity exists. If it's not lighting up the storm clouds overhead or crackling in a static spark at your fingertips, then it's moving through the human nervous system, animating the brain's will in every flourish, breath and unthinking heartbeat.

When the same mysterious force energizes a loved one's touch, a stroke of lightning and a George Foreman Grill, a curious duality ensues: We take electricity for granted one second and gawk at its power the next. More than two and a half centuries have passed since Benjamin Franklin and others proved lightning was a form of electricity, but it's still hard not to flinch when a particularly violent flash lights up the horizon. On the other hand, no one ever waxes poetic over a cell phone charger.

Related Articles 5 Wacky Forms of Alternative Energy How Grid Energy Storage Works How did Nikola Tesla change the way we use energy? How Nuclear Power Works

Electricity powers our world and our bodies. Harnessing its energy is both the domain of imagined sorcery and humdrum, everyday life -- from Emperor Palpatine toasting Luke Skywalker, to the simple act of ejecting the "Star Wars" disc from your PC. Despite our familiarity with its effects, many people fail to understand exactly what electricity is -- a ubiquitous form of energy resulting from the motion of charged particles, like electrons. When put to the question, even acclaimed inventor Thomas Edison merely defined it as "a mode of motion" and "a system of vibrations."

In this article, we'll try to provide a less slippery answer. We'll illuminate just what electricity is, where it comes from and how humans bend it to their will.

For our first stop, we'll travel to Greece, where inquisitive ancients puzzled over the same phenomena that zaps you when you touch a metal object after shuffling over the carpet on a cold, dry day.

Breaker

A breaker is a electrical device used to 
protect electrical circuits from overload. 
Breakers are rated in the maximum 
amperage (20 amp) they will allow to 
pass. If  the current exceeds the rating of 
the breaker, it will trip the breaker. In 
order to turn the circuit back on, the 
breaker will have to be reset.

Electric Plan

The House Blueprint Term Electrical 
Plan is a detailed drawing of all outlets, 
lights, and switches in a house. The house 
plans will show the location of the outside 
service, inside panel, and any disconnects. Three way switches will be noted on the 
House Plans along with any switched 
receptacles. The location of all lights will be 
shown on the house plans and it should 
note if there will be any specialty switching 
such as dimmers. The overall new house 
plans should give a complete view of 
everything