Science

Developed by the Swedish company SAGAB, Volt Stick is the brand name for a line of pen-sized instruments used to detect electricity (specifically, the magnetic field generated by the flow of...

Temperature can affect the amount of electricity produced by a wind generator or wind turbine in several ways. Depending on the temperature, efficiency of the turbine can either be decreased on...

A volt is has been the common term of measurement of electric potential under the International System of Units for more than 100 years. Commonly used and commonly misunderstood, voltage is not a...

Magnetism and electricity are two closely related phenomena, and in fact each can be used to cause the other. There is a growing movement of people building personal magnetic generators to cut...

The same electrical charge that causes lightning to strike a tree causes us to get a shock when we walk across a carpeted floor and touch a metal doorknob. This charge is also the same force that...

Can you imagine having to live and work in the dark? Before the invention of the light bulb, people used a variety of different ways to light their way at night. Wax candles and lamps that burned...

Alexandre Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect in 1839, which is the conversion of light into electricity. The photovoltaic effect is what makes solar power possible, as metals...

Earth has given us many resources that allow us to survive. We make use of renewable (like sun and air) and nonrenewable (like minerals) resources. Water is one of the main resources we use and...

The idea of using the sun to generate a home's electricity has been the dream of many for years. Technological advances in the last decade have greatly improved the efficiency and pe- watt cost...

Solar energy comes from the sun and travels through outer space to the earth. Solar energy comes in the form of light, and when the light comes to planet Earth, sometimes the solar energy is...

Solar panels convert the energy of light into electricity that can be consumed by residential, commercial, or industrial customers. Solar panels take advantage of the photoelectric effect to...

Electric energy is one of the most used power sources on earth. Electricity itself is actually harmless to the planet and enables the human race to live with vast amounts of equipment and gadgets...

Coal powers our modern life, even though it seems antiquated. A vast majority of the coal used in the U.S. is used to run our computers, lights, and elevators, but few people even know how...

Solar-powered technology provides us with an alternative to the use of fossil fuels. Many power plants rely on the burning of fossil fuels to boil water, which then produces steam and causes...

Nuclear energy, produced from reactors operating across the globe, is the source of some of the world's supply of electricity. Another more disheartening use of nuclear energy is in the production...

Alternative power sources such as solar and wind are being developed because they reduce pollution and green-house gas emissions while increasing the United State's energy independence. A major...

When someone is shocked by electricity, his muscles become constricted and he can't move. The electric current moves through the body and to the ground, its ultimate destination. This shock can...

Solar cells have been around for decades. The technology that has gone into solar cells has produced dozens of products and has been highly beneficial to the world. While we have all heard about...

The sun provides heat, light and even power to homes connected with solar panels. Making the conversion to solar power on a home is a decision that will change the way your house is run. Before...

Solar energy is light from the sun harnessed by human technology to help power various systems. Normally, sunlight is used by plants during photosynthesis to created needed energy, but the...

Turbines are very widely used devices that convert mechanical force to rotational force, which is then converted to electricity. All turbines have some sort of impeller, which is most akin to a...

Modern civilization depends on electricity to light the streets, run the computers and power our endless gadgets. Electricity, however, isn't a natural resource; it has to be made. In 2009, we now...

With so many people attempting to "go green" and protect the environment, a debate about which form of household heating is better has begun. The two options being discussed are electric heating...

Electricity is one of the fundamental forces of nature. Wherever electricity is, there is an implicit danger to your health. No matter how small an amount, any electric current can have adverse...

Electricity is a popular subject that kids often study in science classes, and children are thrilled when they are able to produce electricity using common items found around the house. A battery...

Though a nuclear power plant, a coal-fired plant, and a wind turbine may look different, they all make electricity the same way: by turning a generator. Electric energy comes from a handful of...

Nuclear power has been used in a wide variety of applications for decades. Most people are at least vaguely familiar with the existence of nuclear power plants for civil utilities and aboard naval...

Despite Thomas Edison not inventing the first light bulb, he did invent the first household light bulb. There is a small rumor that he was afraid of the dark. Thanks to Thomas Edison, everyone...

A parallel circuit has one function: to keep the electricity flowing when one pathway is interrupted. A prime example is light fixtures that use multiple light bulbs. When a single bulb in the...

Electricity is a concept that most children can easily grasp. By the time children are old enough to learn about electricity, they know not to stick their fingers in a light socket and what...

Chosen more for their price than their prudence, traditional methods of generating electricity are odorous, dirty and smoky affairs that have often left the adjacent land, air and water...

It took a century for solar energy to catch on, but fueled by the steep rise in the cost of conventional electricity, advancements in solar cell technology are accelerating at and unprecedented pace.

Today's electric generators operate under the principle of electromagnetic induction, which was discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday. Electromagnetic induction operates under the assumption that...

Solar electricity is generated by harnessing the power of the sun. The majority of solar electricity is generated using photovoltaic cells. You've probably seen these in calculators and other...

Electricity and magnetism are closely related phenomena. When electricity moves, it creates a magnetic field. When electricity moves in a straight line--as when it moves through a wire--it creates...

A number of countries use solar electricity to help support growing energy needs of their populations. Each megawatt of energy powers 800 homes for a year. Combined with other renewable sources,...

Solar energy is a renewable and clean energy source that can be directly converted to heat (thermal energy) and indirectly to electricity. The United States encourages the use of solar energy...

Electric power is at the center of modern life, but many people don't know the basics of it. What's the difference between the electricity running through the power lines, the electricity in the...

You can use citrus fruit to light up a light bulb by making a fruit battery. Fruit batteries are an ideal science fair project for elementary and middle school students. They're fun, safe and...

There's no question that fossil fuels are a limited source of energy, while solar provides a free source of renewable energy. Advances in technology and financial incentives from federal and state...

We all see the spectacular natural light shows that occur when a thunderstorm passes through, and stories abound of the power of lightning. Power grids fail, computers are ruined and data is lost,...

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a wind turbine as "a wind-driven turbine for generating electricity." Defining them in this manner delineates them from a traditional windmill, which the...

When electricity flows through a wire or other conductor, it creates a magnetic field. This magnetic field flows around the wire in a circle. It is normally very small in an individual wire and is...

As many people look to prevent global warming and go "green," many Earth-friendly technologies have been in the forefront of this effort. One of the main energy options that has been addressed is...

A condenser is an old term for a capacitor, a device that functions as a very small battery inside a circuit. At it's most basic, a capacitor consists of two sheets of metal separated by a thin...

In many power stations, various types of fuel are used to heat water. In the U.S., coal-burning plants are very common, but oil, natural gas, methane and nuclear power is also used. In a nuclear...

Electricity and magnetism are two closely related forces that make up the larger force of electromagnetism. You can use electricity to create a magnetic field and you can use a magnetic field to...

There is a great deal of energy to be tapped underneath the Earth. This energy, known as geothermal energy or geothermal power, is used today to generate 0.3 percent of the world's electricity...

Did you know your electricity consumption is directly tied to carbon dioxide (CO2) consumption? It's easy to estimate how much CO2 you're generating from your electric use. Here's how:

Generators work using Faraday's principle of magnetic induction to create electricity. Faraday observed that electrical currents cause a magnetic field to be generated. The corollary is that a...