Preview

The Importance of Electricity

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1908 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Importance of Electricity
What is Electricity?
Electricity is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. As a matter of fact, it can even kill you. The most vital part of electricity is called electric energy. This is what we commonly think of when we hear the word electricity. “Electricity” reminds us of anything that we plug into an electrical outlet in order to make it work, such as lights, refrigerators, video games, microwaves, and computers. Scientists discovered ways to produce electric energy in large amounts in order to make heat, light and motion. These discoveries have improved our lives greatly and for many of us it would be difficult to picture what life would be like without electricity.
What Are Some of the Problems With Electricity and Fossil Fuels?
One of the most common ways to produce electricity is through the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas. When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which leads to acid rain and global warming. These are big problems for our environment.
Another concern is that we will eventually run out of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy because it takes millions of years to create them. That's why it's so important that we start to develop better ways to use renewable sources of energy such as wind and water power to create electric energy.
How Does Electricity Work?
Everything in the world, including air, humans, water, etc. is made up of atoms, or tiny invisible particles. Protons and neutrons join together to form the nucleus or center of the atom. Electrons, which are even smaller, spin around the nucleus of the atom. When electrons move from one atom to another, they form electricity.
All right, but how do these protons and neutrons help make my computer work at home? In today’s world, huge generators at power plants make electricity by using coal, natural gas, uranium, water, or wind. Electric current travels

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1. Use the arrow buttons () to add protons, neutrons, and electrons to the atom. Press Play ().…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Element Builder

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1. Use the arrow buttons ([pic]) to add protons, neutrons, and electrons to the atom. Press Play ([pic]).…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fossil fuels are currently the most widely used source of nonrenewable energy in today’s society. These sources of energy are used to generate power for both commercial and personal use in a number of different ways. “In 2005, more than 3/4 of total world energy consumption was through the use of fossil fuels.” (Environmental Literacy Council, 2008) Oil, the leading energy resource depended upon to fuel everyday functions produces 43.4 % of our world’s energy. Natural Gas, the second most relied upon resource produces 15.6 % of the world’s energy followed by coal, which produces 8.3 % of the world’s energy. Unsurprisingly, North America is the number one consumer of nonrenewable energy resources, consuming approximately 25 % of the fossil fuels extracted from the earth. (Environmental Literacy Council, 2008)…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Potato battery graph

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    We made a simple battery out of a potato by placing in it a zinc strip and a copper strip. At the zinc strip, the acid dissolves the zinc freeing electrons. At the copper strip, the acid uses those electrons to form hydrogen gas. Because the zinc strip frees electrons and the copper strip uses electrons, if you put a wire between the two strips, then electrons will flow from the zinc to the copper. This is electrical energy.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    C1 Revision Notes

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Power stations burn fossil fuels for energy which also releases carbon dioxide in the air.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    electrical circuit. The electrons then do work, such as to run an electric motor. Then the electrons…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Almost everything human’s use require a form of energy. Unfortunately, fossil fuel is the source of energy we use to sustain ourselves. Fossil fuels emit large quantities of greenhouse gas, which increases the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Energy Shots

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages

    First of all, “Energy Shots” by energyquest.com explains, describes, and provideds examples that connect with everybodys daily lifes like what houshold ampliances use and conduct energy and about how much ebnergy we use in a day. “ 1 Electricity figures everywhere in our lives. For example, from paragraph 1 “ Electricity lights up our homes, cooks our food, powers our computers, television sets, and other electronic devices.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    · Protons are positively charged particles. Neutrons have no charge. There is an outer layer made up of negatively charged electrons, which keep orbiting the nucleus in a random manner.…

    • 4210 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Unfortunately, the process involved in using the fuels released fumes into the air that are harming the planet.” Since fossil fuels are not a renewable source it will eventually run out. “In 1987 the United Nations said that we should aim for sustainable energy.” Meaning countries should start developing sources of energy that will never run out or harm the planet. “Fossil fuel power plants burn oil, coal, or natural gas.“That heat produced is used to turn water into steam.” “The steam powers machines called turbines, and the turbines then power generations that produce electricity.” However burning fossil fuels also releases harmful substances into the air, such as oxides says Vic. “These oxides mix with water vapor and fall to earth as acid rain,” which is harmful to the…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    solar energy

    • 2190 Words
    • 10 Pages

    uses electricity. But where does this electricity come from? Right now we have a few ways to…

    • 2190 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    activity ko

    • 5025 Words
    • 21 Pages

    When those electrons move among the atoms of matter, a current of electricity is created.…

    • 5025 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Renewable Energy: Yes or No?

    • 2467 Words
    • 10 Pages

    “Fossil fuel is made up of, oxidized and decayed animal and vegetable materials, specifically coal, peat, lignite, petroleum and natural gas” (Sica, 2011). We retrieve these fuels from under the ground and under water and then use this for electricity. The problem with this method is the over spill into the oceans and above ground. Some of the major oil spills that have occurred that have affected our environment are: Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill, Atlantic Empress oil spill, Arabian Gulf/Kuwait, and the Gulf oil spill, to name a few. There are many more but, with just the ones mentioned in the above oil spills are equal to around 956 million gallons of oil spilled out into our oceans and land (Live Science article Top Ten Worst Oil Spills of Our Time). This alone kills all the animals and mammals living around it.…

    • 2467 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Forms of Energy

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Energy is very important in everyone 's lives; it guides us through our day. The question we must first ask ourselves in order to better understand energy is, what is energy and where does it come from? Energy is in everything we do and use. Energy is a force or a form of an activity. When you wake up in the morning and stretch that is energy. When you go up and…

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the process of industrialization, fossil fuels have played an increasingly important role in every aspect of human live. The use of fossil fuel has shown an explosive growth in the last few decades. The term of fossil fuel refers to “coal, oil, and natural gas - fuels that were formed millions of years ago from the fossilized remains of plants or animals” (Robert, 2012, p.10). Fossil fuels supply much of the energy used by industry and nearly all used in road transport. Nevertheless, according to some experts, such as geologist Colin Campbell, estimates that soon there will be no more oil. The world fuel supply, he claims, “will peak by 2010 and be down to half that level by 2025-30” (Campbell, 2006, p.24). The world is facing the crisis of running out of fossil fuels, and this situation will cause negative effects on environmental and economic problems.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays