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Electricity

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7 Apr 2012 14:05:03 IST

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HOW MADE ELECTRICITY

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HOW ELECTRICITY MADE

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Anshul Malik

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Joined: 10 Apr 2012

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10 Apr 2012 20:02:22 IST

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Electricity is made by the flow of electrons.

edison

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29 May 2012 14:40:04 IST

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How Electricity Is Made

It comes from magnets!

In the early 1800s, Michael Faraday discovered "electromagnetic induction", which is the scientific way of saying that if he moved a magnet through a loop of wire, the wire would become electrified.

In 1882, Thomas Edison opened the first full-scale power plant in New York City. Edison's electric generator was a bigger version of Faraday's basic experiment; a big magnet rotates around a wire to produce an electric current.

Today's power plants are bigger and controlled by computers, but the basic process is still the same as it was nearly 120 years ago.

Here's how power plants make electricity:


Coal is dug up and sent on trains and boats.	The coal is burned to heat water to make steam.	Inside the generator, the steam spins a big fan called a turbine.	The spinning turbine rotates a big magnetaround a piece of wire & that motion creates a magnetic field that electrifies the wire.	The electric current flows through the wire and is pushed out through high-voltage transformers.

More ways to make electricity:

Instead of using coal, some power plants use other ways to make electricity:

Emery Generating Station

Emery Generating Station
Clear Lake, Iowa

Duane Arnold Energy Center

Duane Arnold Nuclear Center
Palo, Iowa

Bent Tree Wind Farm

Bent Tree Wind Farm
Freeborn County, Minnesota

Prairie du Sac

Prairie du Sac Hydro
Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin

Some power plants burn natural gas instead of coal to make steam.

A nuclear power plant splits apart uranium to release heat energy.

A wind farm uses the wind to spin the blades of the turbine.

A hydro power plant uses running or falling water to spin the turbine.

edison

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29 May 2012 14:40:45 IST

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Also visit

http://www.solarschools.net/resources/stuff/how_electricity_is_made.aspx

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