Download INSIDE THE POWER PLANT - Illinois Institute of Technology

INSIDE THE POWER PLANT
INSIDE THE POWER PLANT
• Electricity is generated on a large scale at
power stations and then transmitted
through cables (called the National Grid)
to factories and homes.
• Power stations convert an energy
resource into electrical energy. We will be
exploring these types of resources in a few
days
• gcsescience.com
INSIDE THE POWER PLANT
• POWER PLANT
• http://www.tampaelectric.com/Education/T
EEDElecgen.html
An electric current is created when a magnet is spun
rapidly inside a coil of wire. As you see in the
conceptual diagram in the right, a turbine (usually
powered by water or wind) spins a magnet inside a coil.
This action induces an electric current in the coil that
can be used to power a light bulb.
http://www.scienceproject.com/projects/intro/elementary/EX010.asp
MAGNETS
• All magnets have two ends, usually
marked "north" and "south,"
• the fundamental law of all magnets:
Opposites attract and likes repel
• All magnets are surrounded by a magnetic
field.
http://science.howstuffworks.com
MAGNETIC FIELD
• A magnetic field is a region around the magnet
where magnet materials experience a force.
• The shape of the magnetic field around the
magnet is shown by lines.
Arrows on the lines point away from North and
towards South
to show the direction of the magnetic field.
• The magnetic field is represented with the
variable B and is measured in a unit called Tesla
CURRENT INDUCES A
MAGNETIC FIELD
• Current running through a
conductor will produce a magnetic
field
• This is why we saw a deflection
on the compass needle in the
Circuit lab. The magnetic field in
the wires were interacting with the
magnetic field of the compass
Direction of Magnetic Field
You can work out the direction of the field using your right
clenched fist.
Point your thumb upwards in the same direction as the
current.
The direction of the field is the same direction in which
your fingers curl.
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