Electricity - Explanation and definition of electricity
What is electriciy
Electricity is the set of natural phenomena caused by the presence and movements of electrical charges, electricity is the main source of energy used for powering multiple devices, tools and machines we use every day, playing a key role in technological development of the past centuries.
According to the above definition of electricity, so that there is electricity required the presence of electric charges, so the first thing we need to know is the concept and definition of electric charge. The electrical charge is an intrinsic property of subatomic particle existing in nature, the electric charge is manifested by forces of attraction or repulsion between particles of different or same sign as the magnets attract or repel by pole, electric charge can be positive or negative.
In nature we find many electrically charged particles as the electron with negatively charged, a proton has a positive electrical charge, also the quark up is positive while the quark down is negative, on the other hand there are particles like the photon or neutron without charge. The absence or presence of these particles in excess within an atom confer the property of electrical charge giving rise to a new chemical species known as ion, ions are atoms or molecules positively charged (cationic) or negatively charged (anion)
Electricity commonly associate with the movement of electrons using a metal cable, but also the movement of protons, quarks, positrons (antiparticle of the electron with a positive electrical charge), antiprotons or any type of ion, such as electricity generating the cells of our body is based on electrically charged molecules (ions), thanks to this "bioelectricity" our neurons send electrical signals allowing communicate with each other through which we can hear, see, feel, learn, think....
With all this we can imagine electricity as the movement of particles, atoms or charged molecules through a medium such as a wire cable, organic system, air ... Depending on the type of electrical charge as well as the medium that cross the speed of electricity varies.
Effects of electricity
Electricity is an intangible phenomenon can not see with a microscope as charges flow through a cable, but we know there given your step produces three clear effects:
An early effects can observe the passage of an electric current is heat generation, the heat produced by electricity (also known as Joule effect) is due to the speed acquiring charged through the medium particles that runs remember that the temperature is defined as the amount of movement of the particles that make up an object, this rise of temperature is used for example to heat the air in a dryer, to heat an oven, heating or grill, also Joule effect is used to heat the filament of a lamp to generate light by incandescence of the filament.
On the other hand due to the effect of electroluminescence discovered in the early twentieth century, we can see how certain materials emit light when they are made to pass an electric current through them, LED base their operation on this principle unlike incandescent bulbs that emit light by heating filaments.
Finally we can see that any electric current produces a magnetic field in its way, this effect was discovered in 1820 by Professor Hans Christian Oersted to see how the needle of a magnetic compass changed direction when by passing an electric current, then physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell mathematically unified both forces leading to electromagnetism. Taking advantage of this effect have been developed multiple devices such as valves, sensors, bells, electric brakes, electric motors, these used to generate magnetism as a result of electricity passing through it.
Applications of electricity
Electricity has played a key role in the technological development of recent centuries, thanks to electricity million of cities and towns of the world light up the night allowing you to continue with the activities that take place during daylight, likewise the electricity has become the main energy source that drives multiple devices such as computers, smartphones, printers, televisions, heaters, refrigerators, machine tools, locomotives, trains, motorcycles and electric cars among others.
Our heart and brain powered by electrical impulses generated in the cells, thanks to electricity today we have electrocardiograms that measure heart activity and electroencephalograms which measure brain activity, also devices like the defibrillator which applies to our heart an electric shock in order to avoid cardiac arrest or stroke, or the pacemaker to generate electrical pulses to keep active the heart. Furthermore the communication between cells that run nervous system is performed by electrical pulses, ie we are partly electricity.
Now that you know what electricity is, did you know that the power consumption of the world is approaching 20 billion kw / hour, with this amount of energy could light up simultaneously for one day 20.000.000.000 of 40-watt bulbs, certainly a visual feast viewed from space.
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