Download Generating Electricity

Electricity:
It’s SHOCKING!
Power of Electricity
Generating Electricity
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An electric generator converts mechanical
energy into electrical energy. A generator
uses motion to produce electric current.
 A turbine is a circular device that is made up
of many blades.
 Not all turbines are turned by water.
**Can you name other ways of
turning a turbine?
**Can you name 7 energy resources?
Inside a Hydropower Plant
Resources
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Fossil Fuels such as coal, oil, natural
gas can be burned in generating plants
to produce steam.

Renewable resource - one that can be
replaced in nature at a rate close to
the rate at which it is used.

Nonrenewable resource - one that
exists in a fixed amount.
Facts
Wind Power
Electricity Vocabulary
Current is the flow of electrons.
Measured in amps.
 Resistance is slowing down the flow
of electrons. Measured in ohms.
 Voltage (or potential difference) is
energy available to move charges
through a circuit. Measured in volts.
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Resistors
Electricity Vocabulary
Switches can complete a pathway or
disrupt it.
 Conductors allow electrons to move
freely through them. Can you name
some examples?
 Insulators don’t transfer electricity
easily. Can you name some
examples?
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Switch
Electrical Terms
Conductors
Series, Parallel or Both?
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One pathway for current
Flow of electrons
Several paths or braches for current to flow.
Needs conducting wires
Household circuits
Lights become dimmer as more bulbs are
added (current decreases).
Lights stay the same brightness as more
bulbs are added.
Circuits
Electrical Safety

A fuse uses a thin strip of metal that melts
when current gets too high. Fuses are
found in cars and old buildings/homes.
 A circuit breaker has a reusable switch
(electromagnet) that breaks the circuit when
current is too high..
 Most buildings have a wire that connects all
electric circuits to the ground.
 How does a third prong work on a plug?