History of Electricity
How much did it cost during the 1880s for electricity?
$5 per kilowatt-hour
What is the name of the Italian scientist that created the electric cell?
Alessandro Volta
What are AC power systems?
Alternating current
What does a motor do?
Converts electrical energy into motion
What does a generator do?
Converts motion energy into electricity
Who invented the first electric power plant?
Thomas Edison
In 1920 what percent of US energy was used to make electricity?
2
How far where the Niagara Falls AC plants able to transport electricity?
200 miles
In 2010 what percent of US energy was used to make electricity?
41
How many lamps were able to be lite because of the first power plant in Manhattan?
5,000 lamps
What did the first electric power plant do?
Carry electricity to people's houses
What happened to the filament Thomas Edison used?
Instead of burning it glowed
How much does today's electricity cost?
12¢ per kilowatt-hour
What did Edison use as a filament?
A cotton thread soaked in carbon
What type of power plant did Thomas Edison invent?
A direct current
Who do most people think discovered electricity?
Benjamin Franklin
What was the name of the first power station in New York?
Edison's Pearl Street Power Station
What two things are based of what Michael Faraday discovered?
Electric generator and electric motor
What does incandescent mean?
Emitting light as a result of being heated; glowing
What challenge did Thomas Edison face when trying to invent a practical lightbulb?
Finding a strong material that could be used as a filament
Who opened the first major power plant that used AC power?
George Westinghouse
How did Alessandro Volta create the first electric cell?
He soaked some paper in salt water, placed zinc and copper on alternate sides, and watched as the chemical reaction produced an electric current
What are two forms of electricity that have been known in nature for a long time?
Lighting and static
What did an alternating current power system allow?
Power plants could transport electricity much further
Michael Faraday was the first to realize what
That an electric current could be produced by passing a magnet through copper wiring
What is a filament?
The small wire inside the bulb that conducts electricity
Electricity is an
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