University San Carlos of Guatemala

Technical Language 3
Inga. Nathalie Lopez

Electricity

Name
Yolanda Guil Reina

ID
2011-14281
Guatemala, 26/09/2015

OBJECTIVES

1. Define the concept that is electricity.

2. Know different methods to generate energy.
3. Know what types of energy there.

Introduction

Electricity is a force caused by electric charge. It is a form of energy which we use

to power machines and electrical devices. When the charges are not moving,
electricity is called static electricity. When the charges are moving they are electric
current, sometimes called 'dynamic electricity'. Lightning is the most obvious kind
of electricity in nature but sometimes static electricity causes things to stick
together. You may have experienced static electricity when you have touched your
TV screen. Always treat electricity with respect. Electricity is not a good match with
water.
Static electricity occurs when the numbers of electrons of atoms in a material are
either more than usual or less than usual. If the electrons stay where they are, the
atom that has too many or too few electrons will attract or sometimes repel other
atoms. If the electrons move from where there are too many to where there are too
few, an electric current will flow.
Electricity can flow like water from one place to another, either as a spark or as a
current in a metal. All matter has an electric charge, but this is mostly cancelled out
by the presence of matter with an opposite charge. We only see an effect when
there is too much or too little electric charge in one place so that it is not cancelled
out.
There are different kinds of generate electricity, this ones can be mentioned in this
report, like with lemons, apples, etc.

Electricity

Electricity works because electric charges push and pull on each other. There are
two types of electric charges: positive charges and negative charges. Similar
charges repel each other. This means that if you put two positive charges close
together and let them go, they would move apart. Two negative charges also repel.
But different charges attract each other. This means that if you put a positive
charge and a negative charge close together, they would smack together. A short
way to remember this is the phrase opposites attract, likes repel.
Electric charges push or pull on each other if they are not touching. This is possible
because each charge makes an electric around itself. An electric field is an area
that surrounds a charge. At each point near a charge, the electric field points in a
certain direction. If a positive charge is put at that point, it will be pushed in that
direction. If a negative charge is put at that point, it will be pushed in the exact
opposite direction.
All the matter in the world is made of tiny positive and negative charges. The
positive charges are called protons, and the negative charges are called electrons.
Protons are much bigger and heavier than electrons, but they both have the same
amount of electric charge, except that protons are positive and electrons are
negative. Because "opposites attract," protons and electrons stick together. A few
protons and electrons can form bigger particles called atoms and molecules. Atoms
and molecules are still very tiny. It is impossible to see them without a very

powerful microscope. Any big object, like your body, has more atoms and
molecules in it than anyone could count.
Because negative electrons and positive protons stick together to make big
objects,

all

big

objects

that

we

can

see

and

feel

are

electrically

neutral. Electrically is a word meaning "describing electricity", and neutral is a word

meaning "balanced." That is why we do not feel objects pushing and pulling on us
from a distance, like they would if everything was electrically charged. All big
objects are electrically neutral because there is exactly the same amount of
positive and negative charge in the world. We could say that the world is exactly
balanced, or neutral. This seems very surprising and lucky. Scientists still do not
know why this is so, even though they have been studying electricity for a long
time.

Kinds of Energy

Electric current is when electric charge flows. When 1coulomb of electricity

moves past somewhere in 1 second, the current is 1 ampere.

Electric voltage is the "push" behind the current. It is the amount of work per
electric charge that an electric source can do. When 1 coulomb of electricity
has 1 joule of energy, it will have 1 volt of electric potential.

Electrical resistance is the ability of a substance to resist the flowing of the

current, i.e. to reduce the amount of current that flows through the substance. If
an electric voltage of 1 volt maintains a current of 1 ampere through a wire, the
resistance of the wire is 1 ohm. When the flow of current is opposed (resisted)
energy gets used or gets converted to other forms (e.g. heat, etc.).

Electric energy is the ability to do work by means of electric devices. Electric

energy is a "conserved" property, meaning that it behaves like a substance and

can be moved from place to place. Electric energy is measured in joules or

kilowatt-hours (kW h).

Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is being used, stored, or
transferred. Flows of electrical energy along power lines are measured in watts.
If the electric energy is being converted to another form of energy, it is
measured in watts. If it is stored (as in electric or magnetic fields), it is
measured in volt-amperes reactive. If some of it is converted and some of it is
stored, it is measured in volt-amperes.

ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
The concept of electric potential is closely linked to that of the electric field. A small
charge placed within an electric field experiences a force, and to have brought that
charge to that point against the force requires work. The electric potential at any
point is defined as the energy required bringing a unit test charge from an
infinite slowly to that point. It is usually measured in volts, and one volt is the
potential for which one joule of work must be expended to bring a charge of
one coulomb from infinity. This definition of potential, while formal, has little
practical application, and a more useful concept is that of electric potential
difference, and is the energy required to move a unit charge between two specified
points. An electric field has the special property that it is conservative, which
means that the path taken by the test charge is irrelevant: all paths between two
specified points expend the same energy, and thus a unique value for potential
difference may be stated. The volt is so strongly identified as the unit of choice for
measurement

and

description

of

electric

potential

difference

that

the

term voltage sees greater everyday usage.

For practical purposes, it is useful to define a common reference point to which

potentials may be expressed and compared. While this could be at infinity, a much

more useful reference is the Earth itself, which is assumed to be at the same
potential everywhere. This reference point naturally takes the name earth
or ground. Earth is assumed to be an infinite source of equal amounts of positive
and negative charge, and is therefore electrically unchargedand unchangeable
Electric potential is a scalar quantity, that is, it has only magnitude and not
direction. It may be viewed as analogous to height: just as a released object will fall
through a difference in heights caused by a gravitational field, so a charge will 'fall'
across the voltage caused by an electric field. [43] As relief maps show contour
lines marking points of equal height, a set of lines marking points of equal potential
may be drawn around an electrostatic ally charged object. The equipotentials cross
all lines of force at right angles. They must also lie parallel to a conductor's surface;
otherwise this would produce a force that will move the charge carriers to even the
potential of the surface.
The electric field was formally defined as the force exerted per unit charge, but the
concept of potential allows for a more useful and equivalent definition: the electric
field is the local gradient of the electric potential. Usually expressed in
volts per meter, the vector direction of the field is the line of greatest slope of
potential, and where the equipotentials lie closest together.

Methods of generating electricity

There are seven fundamental methods of directly transforming other forms of
energy into electrical energy:

Static electricity
Electromagnetic induction
Electrochemistry
Photovoltaic Effect
Thermoelectric effect
Piezoelectric effect
Nuclear transformation

CONCLUTION

1. Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence

and flow of electric charge.
2. There are seven kinds of generate electricity: Static electricity,
Electromagnetic
induction,
Electrochemistry,
Photovoltaic
Effect,
Thermoelectric effect, piezoelectric effect, nuclear transformation.

3. The types of energy are: Electric current, electric voltage, Electrical

resistance, Electrical energy and electric power.

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