Extended experimental investigation - generating electricity
Extended Experimental Investigation
Generating Electricity
Physics
Teacher: Mr Heagney
By: Jesse O’Sullivan
Background Information:
The history of electrisity leads right back to more than two thousand years ago. Ancient Greeks discovered that rubbing fur on amber caused an attraction between the two. Many electricity-related discoveries had been made by the 17th century, including the differentiation between negative and positive currents, the classification of matireals as conductors or insulators , and the invention of the of a basic electrostatic generator. Continuing on to 1600’s, William Gilbert, an English Physician, connected the term electic with the force that certain substances create when rubbed against another. In 1800 Alessandro Volta invented an early electric battery he called a Voltaic pile. This produced a steady electric current, and this lead to the discovery that particular chemical reactions created electricity. Only once Michael Faraday created the ‘Faraday disk’ (the first power generator) along with the theory of Electromagnetic induction [1](“Faraday's Law, discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday, states that the induced electromotive force in a closed circuit is equal to the time rate of change of the magnetic flux through the circuit. Under Faraday's Law, electric current is induced only if either the magnetic field is changing or the conductor is moving. Generators, for example, spin a coil of wire around a magnet to produce a steady current” [3]) did electricity become viable for use in technology. Since this electricity and the inventions that came with it has exploded as the worlds knowledge of electromagnitism has broadends and advances.
Through the expansion of electromagnatism, various types of generators have been schemed and tested against others for efficiency. Almost all of these generators involved permanent magnets to create the necessary magnetic fields. One of the most recognised versions of the generator was
Generating Electricity
Physics
Teacher: Mr Heagney
By: Jesse O’Sullivan
Background Information:
The history of electrisity leads right back to more than two thousand years ago. Ancient Greeks discovered that rubbing fur on amber caused an attraction between the two. Many electricity-related discoveries had been made by the 17th century, including the differentiation between negative and positive currents, the classification of matireals as conductors or insulators , and the invention of the of a basic electrostatic generator. Continuing on to 1600’s, William Gilbert, an English Physician, connected the term electic with the force that certain substances create when rubbed against another. In 1800 Alessandro Volta invented an early electric battery he called a Voltaic pile. This produced a steady electric current, and this lead to the discovery that particular chemical reactions created electricity. Only once Michael Faraday created the ‘Faraday disk’ (the first power generator) along with the theory of Electromagnetic induction [1](“Faraday's Law, discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday, states that the induced electromotive force in a closed circuit is equal to the time rate of change of the magnetic flux through the circuit. Under Faraday's Law, electric current is induced only if either the magnetic field is changing or the conductor is moving. Generators, for example, spin a coil of wire around a magnet to produce a steady current” [3]) did electricity become viable for use in technology. Since this electricity and the inventions that came with it has exploded as the worlds knowledge of electromagnitism has broadends and advances.
Through the expansion of electromagnatism, various types of generators have been schemed and tested against others for efficiency. Almost all of these generators involved permanent magnets to create the necessary magnetic fields. One of the most recognised versions of the generator was