Electricity
hideElectricity (from the New Latin ēlectricus, "amber-like"[a]) is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts, such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction.
In general usage, the word 'electricity' is adequate to refer to a number of physical effects. However, in scientific usage, the term is vague, and these related, but distinct, concepts are better identified by more precise terms:
Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity, though advances in the science were not made until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Practical applications for electricity however remained few, and it would not be until the late nineteenth century that engineers were able to put it to industrial and residential use. The rapid expansion in electrical technology at this time transformed industry and society. Electricity's extraordinary versatility as a source of energy means it can be put to an almost limitless set of applications which include transport, heating, lighting, communications, and computation. The backbone of modern industrial society is, and for the foreseeable future can be expected to remain, the use of electrical power.
For more information about Electricity, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with electricity
Ultra-Long Carbon Nanotubes Could Serve as Future Transmission Lines
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
21 hours ago |
4.8 / 5 (17) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to carbon nanotubes, the majority of research so far has focused on small-scale applications. But now, a team of researchers from Rice University has created carbon nanotubes ...
Tesla Roadster Goes 313 Miles on a Single Charge
Nov 09, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (14) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Tesla is becoming synonymous with high performance electric cars. Indeed, the Tesla car company has been making efforts to create a brand of sports car that runs on electricity, and does so ...
New 'smart' electrical meters raise privacy issues
Nov 06, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (11) |
12
The new "smart meters" utilities are installing in homes around the world to reduce energy use raise fresh privacy issues because of the wealth of information about consumer habits they reveal, experts said ...
Solar power generation around the clock
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (26) |
15
(PhysOrg.com) -- A Californian company, SolarReserve, is developing a solar power system that can store seven hours' worth of solar energy by focusing mirrors onto millions of gallons of molten salt, allowing ...
Toward home-brewed electricity with 'personalized solar energy'
Nov 04, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (9) |
5
New scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalized solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their ...
Funding A Greener Grid: How Obama plans to spend billions on modernizing the U.S. electrical network
Oct 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that his administration plans to spend $3.4 billion on producing a safer, more efficient electrical grid. Obama underscored the need to find clean forms of energ ...
Plugging into an electric vehicle revolution
Oct 27, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
A road trial of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which could one day end up in every Australian driveway, is underway. Over the next three months, staff from Victorian energy distributor SP AusNet ...
Bad weather delays NASA new rocket test flight
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 27, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
(AP) -- NASA tried for hours Tuesday to launch its newest rocket for a shakedown flight, but clouds and high wind kept it stuck on the pad.
Lighter, cheaper, LED light bulbs are starting to enter the marketplace
Oct 22, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (13) |
6
Just when you were finally warming up to the idea of swapping out your old light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones, you may soon find a new alternative at your local hardware store.
Ultracapacitors Make City Buses Cheaper, Greener
Oct 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (45) |
31
(PhysOrg.com) -- A fleet of 17 buses near Shanghai has been running on ultracapacitors for the past three years, and today that technology is coming to the Washington, DC, for a one-day demonstration. Chinese ...
It Takes a Solar Village
Oct 19, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (7) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Rain didn't ruin the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. University teams successfully operated 20 net-zero, grid-connected solar power homes for a week on the National Mall. Some used ...
Report examines hidden costs of energy production and use
Oct 19, 2009 |
2.5 / 5 (4) |
1
A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates "hidden" costs of energy production and use -- such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health -- that are not reflected in market ...
Graphene: Unravelling the secrets of a magic material
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 15, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (12) |
8
UCL researchers are helping to unlock the secrets of a material that could ultimately be used in a new generation of electronic devices.
'Magnetricity' observed and measured for the first time
Oct 15, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (33) |
13
(PhysOrg.com) -- A magnetic charge can behave and interact just like an electric charge in some materials, according to new research led by the London Centre for Nanotechnology.
The future of electricity may be found in environmentally-friendly, thermoelectric cells
Oct 14, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (7) |
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The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation are funding research that may result in a military turbine aircraft that for the first time ever will produce its own electricity from exhaust ...
