So... How Does Electricity Work?
Atoms are everywhere, in fact they make up the smallest units of the chemical elements of matter. Packet with a combination of both Protons (Positive charge) and Neutrons (No charge) is the nucleus, which can be found in the middle of an Atom. Orbiting the atom is an array of Electrons (Negative Charge), The number of Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons are specific to each chemical element, and each element acts and reacts differently with one another.
With Atoms being neutral; they contain the same number of protons as electrons. An Ion, on the other hand is an electrically charged particle produced by either removing electrons from a neutral atom to give a positive ion or adding electrons to a neutral atom to give a negative ion. When an ion is formed, the number of protons does not change, only the number of electrons.
For example, Neutral atoms can be turned into positively charged ions by removing one or more electrons. A neutral sodium atom, for example, contains 11 protons and 11 electrons. By removing an electron from this atom we get a positively charged Na+ ion that has a net charge of +1.
By acknowledging the nature electrical charges in nature, we can deduce that some elements have more and work better than others. Metal for instance have plenty of free electrons that are willing to interact and exchange electric charge. These free electrons as charge carriers in the metallic structure, allowing electric current to flow through metal. This action of adding or taking away electrons creates a change in the charge of both the metal and the other elements, that can be used or manipulated.
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| The Voltaic Pile takes advantage of the electric natural electric charge in the brine and uses metals, such as copper and zinc as conductors. |
Micheal Faraday and Alessandro Volta discovered that by using elements with higher amounts of corresponding ions they could produce an electric charge, this is demonstrated very well in Volta's Battery, the brine soaked pads and the metal plates are packed with ions, so the chance of conductivity is high.
In the early 1830's Faraday found that by using his metal and a Volta's battery he could use the electrical charge to create the movement of a compass' needle. He later found out that this movement must be caused by the electric force, even though there was no direct contact. He was right, that force was magnetism. Through the manipulation of the charged particles being introduced and taken away a change in the magnetic poles occurred, electrons shifted through the conductor, and a brief current was created.
Hypothetically by using a constant force of kinetic (moving) energy , such as a river, electric power could be produced and used for mechanical functions. But at the time, electricity and its potential was too early to be used practically.
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| This is a small model of a direct current generator |
This method of changing kinetic energy into electrical and eventually mechanical energy would be called Direct Current and its use and progress in the 20th century lit up the world for hopes of a bigger and brighter future.
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