Geothermal energy

Unlike other power plants that rely on coal or other ¬¬¬fossil fuels to create electricity for homes and businesses, geothermal power plants use superheated fluids from the earth’s geothermal energy to generate electricity. When magma heats up the water from underground, it creates superheated fluids. When these super-heated fluids reach the surface they will be turned into steam. This steam will then power a turbine, which will in turn power a conductor. The conductor will then produce electrical energy.

¬¬¬¬¬¬To create enough steam to power the steam turbines, the superheated fluid must vaporise. In order to do this, the pressure of the superheated fluids is reduced. The reason for this is because when there is high pressure, it means that particles will have a smaller mean free path, but it won't move slower. Likewise, if the pressure goes down, the particles have a larger mean free path and so there will be fewer collisions between each other, creating a less dense state of matter, therefore steam. We hold this knowledge because of the Kinetic Molecular theory.

When high pressure steam passes through the turbine, it passes through multiple rows of blades. As the steam passes through the turbine, it will expand-reason being according to the kinetic molecular theory steam will expand as the pressure decreases. However, it will allow the turbine blades to increase in speed. This is because, according to Bernoulli’s conservation of energy principle, as pressure energy falls, kinetic energy increases. In other words, as the steam passes through the moving blades, kinetic energy transferred from the steam spins the turbine. This is how mechanical energy is made.

An electric generator will then convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy. Based on the principle of “electromagnetic induction” which states that if an electrical conductor-for example a copper wire was to be moved through a magnetic field, an electric current will be induced