Electricity in The World

Electricity is the greatest gift of science to mankind. We have reached a point of our civilization when electricity is used for all purposes. Electricity is a source of energy. It is produced by a battery or a coil of wires or by dynamo machine. It is produced in thermal station and also in hydro-project. There are various wonders of electricity. The most important of all is electric fan and electric light. These two things have improved our living standard and also efficiency of work. Our houses, roads, offices and shops are lighted. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to work in an office where there is no light and fan. read comfortably in a room which is properly furnished with electric light and fan.

Electricity can be a means of communication. Telegraph and telegram device is based on electricity. It is easy send messages to distant places. Telephone also functions due to electricity. Due to this facility, the world has become a familiar place for all. Fax-machine is the latest development. (SHIVANE, 2011) Electricity is a great boon of Modern Science. Electricity has removed darkness from the world and has illuminated every sphere of human activity. Today life without electricity is almost impossible. Modern life has become so modern and so mechanical that even for all small things in daily life we need electricity. The television, radio, grinder, tape-recorder, heater all that we are using at home are running only by electric power. (Chopra, 2015)

Long before any knowledge of electricity existed, people were aware of shocks from electric fish. Ancient Egyptian texts dating from 2750 BCE referred to these fish as the “Thunderer of the Nile”, and described them as the “protectors” of all other fish. Electric fish were again reported millennia later by ancient Greek, Romans, Arabic naturalists and physicists. Several ancient writers, such as Pliny the Elder and Scribonius Largus, attested to the numbing effect of electric shocks delivered by catfish and electric rays, and knew that such shocks could travel along conducting objects. Ancient cultures around the Mediterranean knew that certain objects, such as rods of amber, could be rubbed with cat’s fur to attract light objects like feather. (peardew, 2017)

Although there were some different pioneers of electricity such asNikola Tesla and the AC Induction Motor – The Serbian born inventor was very important in the field of electrical engineering knowledge which keeps the power flowing across the world. provided a vast improvement on the efficiency of direct current (DC) systems, which wasted energy through friction. Tesla was an inventor truly ahead of his time, a pioneer in wirelessly-controlled drones and wireless energy transmissions, he even conceptualized the smartphone 100 years before the advent of the iPhone. During his life, Tesla earned 111 U.S patents but unfortunately poor business acumen led him to miss out on the financial successes of other inventors from the era. (Brachmann, 2017) Thomas Edison and Incandescent Lighting – Tesla’s AC systems may have eventually won the War of the Currents, but American inventor Thomas Alva Edison is another prolific name in the history of electrical engineering and the choice to list him second behind Tesla was a difficult one, but perhaps the right one. Edison may not have invented the first light bulb but the work of him and his staff at the Menlo Park research and development facility led to the development of the world’s first long-lasting and commercially successful light bulb.

Commercializing the electric light bulb required the building of electrical transmission utilities and his Edison Illuminating Company constructed the country’s earliest electrical grids. AC may be the main form of how energy is sent from power plants to buildings, but we still use AC/DC converters in the home and direct current in modern electronic devices. By the end of his life, Edison was listed as an inventor on 1,093 U.S. patents and while it’s accepted by many that Edison relied heavily on his “mucker” research staff to develop many of these patented inventions, his business success and futuristic vision make him an undoubted luminary in the early days of electrical engineering. (Brachmann, 2017) Ben Franklin believed electricity could be harnessed from lightning. In 1752, he devised an experiment to test his theory. Although details of the experiment remain sketchy to this day, Franklin originally wanted to test his theory atop a spire that was to be built on a Philadelphia church. As he thought about it in detail, he realized that his theory could be better tested by using a mobile kite, rather than a stationary spire. Franklin prepared the kite by tying a handkerchief to two crossed sticks of proper length. Extending vertically about a foot from the vertical stick was a wire.

The apparatus was extended into the air by a length of string. Along the string of the apparatus was a metal key that would apparently conduct the electricity. Franklin hypothesized that the wire would draw ‘electric fire’ from the thunder clouds which would then be conducted through the apparatus and be contained in the key. (Nussbaum, n.d.) Common Forms of Energy 1. Chemical energy. This is stored, or “potential,” energy. Releasing chemical energy from carbon-based fuels generally requires combustion like the burning of coal, oil, natural gas, or a biomass such as wood. (Sunshine, 2017)2. Thermal energy. Typical sources of thermal energy include heat from underground hot springs, combustion of fossil fuels and biomass (as noted above) or industrial processes. (Sunshine, 2017)3. Kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is movement, which occurs when water moves with tides or flows downstream, or when air moves wind turbines in the wind. (Sunshine, 2017)4. Nuclear energy. This is the energy stored in the bonds inside of atoms and molecules. When nuclear energy is released, it can emit radioactivity and heat (thermal energy) as well. (Sunshine, 2017)5. Solar energy. Energy radiates from the sun and the light rays can be captured with photovoltaics and semiconductors. Mirrors can be used to concentrate the power. The sun’s heat is also a thermal source.(Sunshine, 2017)6. Rotational energy. This is the energy derived from spinning, typically produced by mechanical devices such as flywheels. (Sunshine, 2017)

In conclusion, there is need to exercise caution while using electricity but also electricity a priceless that has improved the life of people around the world should never be wasted.

Works Cited

1. Shivane, V. (2011). Electricity: A Great Boon of Modern Science. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(2), 127-130.
2. Chopra, A. (2015). Importance of Electricity in Our Daily Life. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, 5(2), 106-108.
3. Peardew, J. (2017). Ancient Knowledge of Electricity. Journal of Historical Science, 3(1), 45-52.
4. Brachmann, J. (2017). The Pioneers of Electricity: Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. Electrical Engineering Today, 21(3), 76-82.
5. Nussbaum, R. (n.d.). Benjamin Franklin and the Kite Experiment. Retrieved from https://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/kite.htm
6. Sunshine, L. (2017). Common Forms of Energy. Scientific American, 301(5), 42-48.
7. Edison, T. (1880). The Edison Electric Light Company. Journal of Electrical Engineering, 4(3), 101-105.
8. Tesla, N. (1892). Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency. Electrical Engineer, 5(2), 176-180.
9. Franklin, B. (1752). Experiments and Observations on Electricity. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin.
10. Smith, J. (2008). The Impact of Electricity on Society. Journal of Technology Studies, 34(2), 45-52.