Timeline for Please give the simplest explanation of what electricity exactly is
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 15, 2014 at 7:18 | comment | added | Ben Miller | @FooFighter See What exactly is voltage? for a discussion on how the electric field (voltage) is generated. | |
| Oct 15, 2014 at 7:04 | comment | added | Foo Fighter | We are harnessing the energy that is abundant all around us. I guess one could say the entire universe is electric, is that fair to say? Or rather has the potential for energy since it's composed on atoms. I am wondering what is it in the generator that captures the electrons motion? or any machine. Or does it all have to be first created by an electric field which then requires the use of another source of energy, like coal, hydro? | |
| Oct 15, 2014 at 5:32 | comment | added | Ben Miller | See "What Is Energy?". Energy is not really created, nor are the electrons. Energy is already present in our universe. With a generator, we turn one form of energy into electrical energy. It's not the electrons that power anything, it is the energy in the motion of the electrons. Think of it like a windmill. Air by itself does not power the windmill, but the motion of the air (wind) makes the windmill turn. | |
| Oct 15, 2014 at 4:29 | comment | added | Foo Fighter | I think "energy" is what must understand more in-depth. What exactly is energy? It seems to be easy to say what it does but difficult to tell it is. Energy is what is limited and must be created, not the electrons? So it doesn't really matter the number of electrons? we could have a few hundred and power something indefinitely but what we need is energy to maintain the electric field, which brings me to another question how do we create an electric field? Apologies for all the questions lol | |
| Oct 15, 2014 at 4:12 | comment | added | Ben Miller | @FooFighter To set up the electric field in a conductor, we have a voltage source. The voltage source provides electrons on one side and accepts electrons on the other side, so electrons aren't really added to or subtracted from the conductor. Energy is required to maintain the electric field; you can't just turn it off and expect the current to keep flowing. | |
| Oct 15, 2014 at 3:59 | comment | added | Foo Fighter | With that in mind if we create an electric field which "jump" the atoms and pull them apart would it matter the number of electrons we have? Could we say just have a few hundred electrons or less and continue to keep the current flowing using them with different variances of voltage to power something indefinitely? | |
| Oct 15, 2014 at 3:49 | history | answered | Ben Miller | CC BY-SA 3.0 |