ELECTRICITY FUNDAMENTALS

Electricity is an apparent force in nature that exists

whenever there is a net electrical charge between any
two objects.
Basics of Electrostatics:
Electrical charges are either negative (electrons) or
positive (protons)
The unit of charge, q , is called the coloumb.
When there are equal numbers of positive and negative
charges there is no electrical force as there is no net
charge. This is the case for a neutral atom.
Electrical force is created when electrons are
transferred from one material to another (e.g.
rubbing a wool cloth with a plastic comb).
Electrical charge is conserved; charge is neither created
nor destroyed
Properties of Electricity:
CURRENT: denoted by I and measured in
amperes. Current flows from negative material to
positive material and is essentially the number of
electrons per second that are carried through a
conductor.
VOLTAGE: Potential difference between a
negatively charged object and a positively charged
one (like two terminals on a battery). Potential
difference is measured in units of Volts ( V )which
represents the work done per unit charge to move
electrons between the positive and negative
terminals. If a potential difference exists, then
energy can be extracted.
RESISTANCE: Property of material that helps
prevent the flow of electrons in it. Metals are good
conductors due to low resistance. Wood is a poor
conductor due to high resistance. Resistance, R , is
measured in ohms and depends upon both the type
of material and its size. Long wires have more
resistance than short wires; thin wires have more
resistance than thick wires. R is also temperature
dependent.
OHM's LAW
Is there a relation between I, V, and R ? Let's do an
experiment:

In the above circuit there is a battery (V), some

resistors (R), and a light bulb that can only be
activated if the right number of amps reach it. We
can control this buy putting the right resistance in
the circuit for a given battery Voltage.
Experimental results then lead to Ohms law:
V=R*I
This is a linear relation. If you double the voltage
(V) then for the same value of R you get twice the
current. If you want to keep the current the same
 value after doubling V, you would have to double
the resistance (R).
Example:
Standard US household voltages in an outlet is 120
Volts.
Toaster element is 15 ohms
I = V/R = 120/15 = 8 amps flow through your toaster
Your electricity bill essentially measures the
amount of current that you use but you use this
current as Power .
Power = V * I
(but for most appliances/consumer electronics V is
fixed at 120 Volts). So the toaster has a power of
120x8 = 960 Watts.
A better way to understand your electricity bill:
Since V = R*I then Power = I*I*R = I2R
Energy = Power * Time (and its energy --> kilowatt
hours that you pay for - a 100 watt light bulb left
on 10 hours = 1 kilowatt hour. )
Your stove "burners" are made of some material
which has some resistance R. You can't change R.
To cook your food you need to have so much power
radiated by the stove. Since R in the burner
material is quite high, the material resists the flow
of electrons and the material heats up. The more
 electrons per second (e.g. I) that you can put
through the burner the more power which is
radiated away as heat.
You pay for I, but its I2 that determines the power
usage that you pay for. The longer you leave the
stove burner on, the more energy you have used.
For instance, if you leave the toaster on for one
hour, you have used 1 KWH of energy.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION
Remember Ohms law from last time. Here are two
circuits below. If you know Ohms law you should be
able to make the light come on in one only one try as the
amperage, I, is now specified.

In the early 19th century the following similarity

between two charged particles and two magnets was
observed:
both created "forces" that could operate in a vacuum
charge had a postive and negative component; magnets
had a north and south pole --> force could then be
either attractive or repulsive.
both the magnetic force and the electrostatic force
strength decreased as 1/R2
In 1820 Oersted did this experiment:
and discovered that an electric current creates a
magnetic field
Similarly, a coil of wire with a current passing through
it generates a magnetic field. This is known as an
electromagnet or solenoid .
So now we know that a current can create a magnetic
field. If a magnetic field can create a current then we
have a means of generating electricity. Experiments
showed that a magnetic just sitting next to a wire
produced no current flow through that wire. However,
if the magnet is moving a current is induced in the wire.
The faster the magnet moves, the greater the induced
current.
This is the principal behind simple electric generators in
which a wire loop is rotated between to stationary
magnetics. This produces a continuously varying
voltage which in turn produces an alternating current .
Diagram of a simple electric generator:

In this position there is no

current flow but their
is a large potential
difference (a large
voltage)

In this position the Voltage is

now zero and the
current flow is at a
maximum

To generate electricty then, all we really want to do is

have some (mechanical) mechanism turn a crank
that rotates a loop of wire between stationary
magnets. The faster we can get this crank turned,
the more current we can generate.
Popular Methods of Turning the Crank:
Let water fall on it (Hydro Power)
Direct a nozzle of steam at it (Coal or Nuclear Fired
Steam Plant)
Let the wind turn it (windmill)

Why do transmission lines carry such high voltages?

Consider the following:
Electricity is generated at the generating plant at 120
Volts and then delivered to the households over
conductors.
There are 10 households and each needs 1000 Watts
(for their toasters)
The electric company must therefore supply 10x1000 =
10,000 Watts.
Power = I x V ---> I = P/V
so I = 10,000/120 = 83.3 amps
But, electrical power is dissipated as heat according to P
= I2R (this is how your stove works)
Lets assume R= 1: We now have heat dissipation =
(83.3)*(83.3)(1) = 6944 watts.
Heat dissipation is energy lost by the system. This loss is
unavoidable!
To deliver the 10,000 watts that the consumer needs
requires that we generate 16,944 watts and hence
have an overall efficiency of 10,000/16,944 = 59%
--> which the consumer would pay for
How to solve the loss problem:
Current = Power/Voltage; If we increase V by a factor
of 10, then I lowers by a factor of 10 (at constant power)
and the power dissipated as heat lowers by a factor of
102.
Hence at 1200 Volts we have only 69.4 watts of energy
loss and a 99% enery efficient delivery system.
How to change the voltage: --> Use a Transformer

A transformer uses alternating current in

one coil to induce alternating
current in another. The induced
voltage is given by: Vout = Vin x N2/N1
where N1 = Number of coils in the
Primary and N2= Number of coils in
the secondary. When N2 is less than
N1, we reduce Vout. This is why there
are transformers on power lines to
step the voltage down to 120 Volts
by the time it reaches your house.

Energy conservation tells us that Power In = Power Out

so
Vout x Iout = Vin x Iin
Since Vin is very high, Iin is low and (to prevent
transmission loss); when Vin is stepped down to
produce Vout (what you get at your house), Iout
increases so you can run your stuff.
And that's the way the world works.
Internet Resource Alert
How Electricity Works
ENERGY FUNDAMENTALS
Mechanics: Description of forces and energies associated with moving objects; a
manifestation of forces acting on material objects

Components of Mechanics:

• Mass = measure of a resistance to force; the total number of atoms in some

material.
• Velocity = speed and directon of a moving object
• Acceleration = a change in the velocity of an object; an object moving at constant
velocity has no acceleration.
• Force = causes an acceleration; a change in velocity is a manifestation of a force
being applied to an object. If there are no forces acting on an object there will be
no acceleration.

Your intution already has physics knowledge

Real Physics looks like this

Our Version of Physics is more like the following:

1. You can't move a building

2. A train accelerates more slowly than a motorcycle
3. What goes up must come down
4. On the freeway you would rather have a headon collision with a mosquito instead of a
semi
5. You get tired after climbing a long flight of stairs
Newton described mechanics fully in
terms of three laws: constant velocity
with no forces, F= ma, equal and
opposite reactions

Newton's Three Laws:

Let's do an experiment with forces and masses:

What is Energy?

Energy comes in many forms, kinetic, potential (stored), heat, etc. Energy is always
conserved. It is not created or destroyed but is just transformed from one form to another.

Energy = FORCE * DISTANCE

Power = Energy/Time
Energy = Power * Time

A kilowatt is a unit of Power

A kilowatt hour is a unit of Energy

Two Main Kinds of Energy

• Kinetic Energy
• Potential Energy

Internet Resources:

• See everyone agree's what Newton's Laws are

• Newton's Laws FAQ
• Entertaining version of Newton's Laws

POTENTIAL AND KINETIC ENERGY

Remember Newton's Three Laws
What is Energy?
Energy comes in many forms, kinetic, potential (stored),
heat, etc. Energy is always conserved. It is not created
or destroyed but is just transformed from one form to
another. Newton's laws relate to energy as Energy =
FORCE * DISTANCE
Similarly, a force can be described as the time rate of
change of momentum of an object (see below).
In every day life a lot of energy is dissipated as heat due
to friction.
Let's do the experiment with friction turned on:

Notice that the smallest force can barely move the mass
and that it can't move the pyramid at all. This is
because its force is insufficient to overcome the
frictional forces between the pyramid and the ground.
In this simulation, even when the big force pushes the
pyramid its motion rapidly damps out; most of the
energy is dissipated as heat.
Frictional forces depend upon the total force which is
directed perpendicular to the surface. The more weight
per unit area, the larger the frictional force.
Here is a more complete description of friction.
Kinetic and Potential Energy:
Throwing a ball into the air represents a situation in
which the total energy is fixed and there is a continous
transformation from kinetic energy to potential energy.
When the ball is on the ground there and not moving
there is no potential energy or kinetic energy
when the the ball is tossed into the air it will reach a
maximum height which is determined by how much
kinetic energy it has (air resistance is important
however)
when the ball reaches its maximum height its velocity is
0 and all of the energy in the system is potential
energy
as the ball falls to the ground that potential energy is
converted to kinetic energy
Kinetic Energy = Energy Associated with Motion
1/2 mass * Velocity * Velocity = 1/2mv2
Momentum is Mass * Velocity = mv
Conservation of Momentum is a rule of mechanics. your
intution has already told you about it.
Consider hitting a baseball. The bat, with some mv,
makes impulsive contact with a ball - mbat is greater
than mball and since:
(mv)bat = (mv)ball
then vball is greater than vbat (provided that you hit the
ball and not just air).
Same principle holds in the situation of cannon recoil:
Potential Energy --> object has a position in a force
field
Potential Energy = mass * grav. acceleration * height
PE = mgh
g = gravitational acceleration of the earth
since F = ma and since the earth exerts a continuous
gravitational force on all objects of mass, m, then the
manifest force is
F = mg --> this is what weight is !
Now look what Newton says we can now do
Exponential Growth and Resource Usage
Go Here for Stan's Stuff

Exponential growth, in general, is not understood by the lay public. If exponential use of
a resource is not accounted for in planning - disaster can happen.
Its not too great of simplification to state that the failure to understand the concept of
exponential growth by planners and/or legislators, is the single biggest problem in all of
Resource Management.

An example:

A survey of Boulder Colorado residents about the optimal size for growth returned a
result that most residents thought that a growth in population at the rate of 10% per year
was desireable.

Well 10% a year may not seem inoccuous but let's see how these numbers would add up?

• Year 1 60,000
• Year 2 66,000
• year 3 72,600
• Year 4 79860
• Year 5 87846
• Year 6 96630
• year 7 106294
• Year 8 116923

So in 7 years (year 2--7) the population has doubled and by then 10,000 new residents per
year are moving to boulder!

The difference between linear growth and exponential growth is astonishing.

Consider the graph above. The red curve is linear growth, the green curve is exponential
growth. The x-axis is in years and the Y-axis is in relative units of resources being used.
The normalization is such that at x = 1 year, the red curve is 10,000 times greater than the
green curve (and so the green points are not plotted). Let's say that when 200 units a year
of the resource is being used, it will quickly run out. For the linear case, we can see that it
would take 90 years to reach this usage rate. For the green curve, even though the initial
point was 10,000 times smaller, 200 units a year or being used by year 17 and the usage
skyrockets after that!

So it doesn't make any difference what the starting point is, exponential growth always
gets out of hand.

Basic Concepts of Exponential Growth:

Exponential growth means that some quantity grows by a fixed percentage rate from one
year to the next. A handy formula for calculating the doubling time for exponential
growth is:

Doubling Time = 70/n years

where n is the growth rate. Thus, if the growth rate is say 5%, the doubling time would be
14 years.

Often times exponential growth is plotted as a straight line on a semi-log plot. The Y-axis
is logarithmic and the X-axis is linear. Here is an important example

What kinds of things grow exponentially?

• Population
• Energy resource use
• Number of shopping malls
• Number of automobiles on the freeway
• Your tuition (up to a limit)
• Number of Xerox Machines
• Number of cows McDonalds uses each year
• Number of hospital patients
• Number of prisoners
• Number of Web Pages

any resource that people use will grow exponentially

Cycles and Feedback Loops

Some Feedback Loops

Gaia as a Feedback Loop

 The Earth itself is a material cycle
 Over time the earth acheives a balance which is disrupted by random catastrophe

Exponential use of resources represents a "short-term" random catastrophe for

ecosystems as this disrupts the natural resource cycles. The system can not recover on
such a short timescale.

 Radiation and heat balance in a spherical Cow

Carbon Cycle

Active Pools:

• Atmosphere: 58,000
• Ocean Surface Layers: 43,000
• Ocean Deep Layers: 2,900,000

Organic Carbon:

• Land organisms: 38,000

• Decaying Organic Matter: 58,000
• Marine Organisms: 830
• Decaying Organic Matter Oceans: 250,000

Storage Pools:

As Carbonates:

• Carbonate sediments: 1,700,000,000

As Organic Carbon:

• Fossil Fuels: 830,000

EXCHANGES:

• Atmosphere Ocean Surface: 7--8 years

• Ocean: Surface Depth: 1000 years
• Biological Fixation: 2100 per year (5 % of Terrestrial Organic Carbon)
• Fossil Fuel Combustion Addition: 420 per year
• Diagensis Return to Fossil Fuel Reservoir = 84 units per year
Nitrogen Cycle:

Active Pools:

As Organic Nitrogen:

o Land Organisms: 870

o Marine Organisms: 69
o Decaying Organic Matter: 120,000

As Inorganic Nitrogen

o Soils 10,000
o Ocean Sediments 7,100

Storage Pools:
In solution

o Atmosphere: 270,000,000
o Oceans: 1,400,000

As Rocks:

o crustal rocks: 1,000,000,000

EXCHANGES:

o Biological Fixation Land: 3.9 units per year

o Biological Fixation Ocean: 0.74 units per year
o Atmospheric Fixation: 0.55 units per year
o Denitrification: Land 1.6; Ocean 2.9
o Industrial Fixation 3.2 (fertilizer)
o Eutrophication: reduced oxygen in water; algae thrives, shellfish die