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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
Physicists Demystify Utility of Power Factor Correction Devices
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If you've seen an Internet ad for capacitor-type power factor correction devices, you might be led to believe that using one can save you money on your residential electricity bill. However, ...
Staying Power: Senate Hearing Focuses On Energy Storage
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Thursday's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing featured testimony from experts about the power industry's need to develop systems capable of storing large amounts of electricity if the nation's ...
Toward home-brewed electricity with 'personalized solar energy'
Dec 16, 2009 |
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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 ...
Selling chip makers on optical computing
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer chips that transmit data with light instead of electricity consume much less power than conventional chips, but so far, they've remained laboratory curiosities. Professors Vladimir ...
A greener way to get electricity from natural gas
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of natural-gas electric power plant proposed by MIT researchers could provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, at costs comparable to or less than ...
Small optical force can budge nanoscale objects
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers have used a very tiny beam of light with as little as 1 milliwatt of power to move a silicon structure up to 12 nanometers.
$21 Billion Orbiting Solar Array will Beam Electricity to Earth
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Japanese are preparing to develop a two trillion yen (approximately $21 billion USD) space solar project that will beam electricity from space in the form of microwaves or lasers to around ...
'Inlet Outlet' Lets Users Give Power Back To Wall Sockets
Mar 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Ever wish you could you power your home's electrical appliances with the energy you generate on your exercise bike? A new concept called an "inlet outlet" could allow homeowners to put power ...
Hi-tech, eco-friendly dream home takes shape in Japan
Dec 14, 2009 |
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On Tokyo Bay, at the edge of the largest urban sprawl on Earth, sits what may be an environmentalist's dream home.
Solar power generation around the clock
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(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 ...
Pickin' Up Good Vibrations to Produce Green Electricity
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Vibrations from the environments we live and work in could be much more widely harnessed as a clean source of electricity, due to cutting-edge UK research.
Cheaper Solar Power's Time Has Come
Sep 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar power manufacturers in the US are cutting prices to shift their stock, the government is chipping in with tax credits, and innovative leasing or financing arrangements spreading payments ...
Ultracapacitors Make City Buses Cheaper, Greener
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(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 ...
Scientists Discover Light Force with 'Push' Power
Jul 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Yale University researchers has discovered a "repulsive" light force that can be used to control components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled ...
Lighter, cheaper, LED light bulbs are starting to enter the marketplace
Oct 22, 2009 |
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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.
