Electricity Unit Blog

            This unit began with a brief overview on the basics of electricity. Electricity is the name given to a wide range of electrical phenomena that, in one form or another, underlie just about everything around us. We learned about the many different forms of how electric charges can be transferred. We jumped into learning about the basics of electric charges and how the terms of positive and negative correspond directly. Before learning this we had to understand the matter of protons and elections in items. Although this physics class didn’t get into too much about the matter of an atom we had to understand the behavior of each.

When dealing with electric current it is important to understand how conductors and insulators work.  A conductor is a when any material that make the electrons “loose” and transfer energy between it. A good conductor for example, is any type of metal. Electrical wires in circuits consist of metal to allow the electrons to flow through the wire and bring energy to the source. On the outside of the wire is a coating that is an insulator. An insulator is an item that does not allow electrons to pass through it.

Next, we learned about charging and the different types of charging that allows energy to be transferred. The first type of charging we learned about was charging by friction and contact. Electrons can be transferred from one material to another by simply touching. In class, Mr. Rue demonstrated this with creating the scenario of the thought of laundry in a dryer and how clothes tend to stick together afterwards.  This is because there are certain types of fabrics that steal electrons from one another. He demonstrated this by taking two different socks made with two different types of materials and rubbing them together. This allowed one sock to steal electrons from another and leave the one that had its electrons taken from it positively charged. The other type of charging that we learned about was charging by induction. Charging by induction is when an already positively or negatively charged item is brought so close that the attracting opposite forces generate so much energy that a spark is created.

      

The next thing that we learned about that relates directly to the topic of charging is charge polarization. Charge polarization is when either side of an object is oppositely charged.  This is when both the positive and negative atoms of a molecule become aligned to generate a type of homeostasis for the object. 

 

Then we moved on to the next chapter to learn about Electric current. Electric current is simply the flow of electric charge. There are many variables that correspond to directly it. Voltage is the an electromotive force or potential difference expressed in volts. Potential difference can be defined as the charge that flows from one end to another with different electric potentials. Current is defined as the direction of the flow of positive charges. In metals, which make up the wires and other conductors in most electrical circuits, the positive charges are immobile, and the charge carriers are electrons. Resistance is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric current flow through it. The resistance is measured in units of ohms (Ω). These factors play an important role in the ability particles have to flow through a circuit. 

When learning about the different types of circuits we had to understand these factors and comprehend that for a circuit to work there has to be a continuous flow of electrons to make the circuit complete. There are two different types of circuits that we learned about. Series circuit was the first and this is here each lamp, for example is connected end to end receiving the same amount of current. The next type of circuit we learned about was a parallel circuit. Where the same voltage is applicable to all circuit components connected in parallel. We also learned that a fuse is a box that is used to regulate the amount of current that runs through a circuit. If there is too much current, then the fuse will bust and the circuit will overload. 

This unit was very new to me. I learned alot more in the unit about a lot broader range on concepts than I had in other units. I believe that I did better in retaining the information of this unit and preparing myself for the tests and quizzes.