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ELECTRICAL THEORY
I consider the very basics of the electrical craft to be
whats called theory, which is where electricity comes from,
what is it and how does it react to different actions.
To be able to work with electricity proficiently you should
have a basic understanding of what it is and where it comes
from.
Electricity is one of the few things of nature that God gives
man the opportunity to control to some extent, for his own benifit.
It is the movement of electrons a component of the atom which is
a part of a molecule.
It has it's laws that are always the same; regardless of what
man may try to impose on it, electricity always reacts in a
predictable manner. Knowing and understanding these laws gives
you and I the ability to control electricity (the movement of
electrons).
Electricity and electronics are related to the movement of electrons
through some conducting medium to constitute what is known as
Current Flow. Electron movement also creates fields that must
be understood for their relation to the construction of such
things as generators, transformers, capacitors, and numerous
other electrical components and systems.
The atom is a very small component consisting of a central core
called a Nucleus and one or more electrons revolving around
the core. These electrons are called planetary electrons
because they revolve around the nucleus at different distances
much the same as planets revolve around the sun.
In a fashion much the same as the gravitational pull between the
sun and the planets, there is an attraction between the electrons
and its nucleus. The potential energy represented by the
attraction between the nucleus and any particular planetary
electron of the atom is known as a charge. To distinguish
between the charge of an electron and a nucleus the electron
is given a charge of negative or minus and the nucleus is
given a charge of positive or plus. The positive charge of
the nucleus however simply indicates the predominant or primary
charge of the nucleus. It may consist of a number of positivly
charged particles known as protons as well as a number of
particles with no charge known as neutrons.
In a normal atom, the total value of the positive charge of the
nucleus is equal to the total negative charge established by the
planetary electrons surrounding the nucleus. Since the nucleus
has a positive value and the electrons have a negative value,
they are equal though opposite in their charge relationship,
the atomic structure as a whole may be considered as having
a neutral charge.
Because the nucleus has a positive charge and the electrons have
a negative charge, an attraction is created between the nucleus
and a planetary electrons. This attraction is in conformity with
one of the most basic laws of electricity:
UNLIKE CHARGES ATTRACT AND LIKE CHARGES REPEL.
Hence, the individual electrons having like charges (negative),
repel each other; yet all are attracted to the positive nucleus.
There are many different types of atoms, the number of electrons
in its orbit as well as the composition of the nucleus determines
it's type. The various types of atoms form the fundimental
structure of all substances or matter that exists on earth.
When identical atoms are grouped together, they combine to form
an element, and all matter is made up of either a single element
or a combination of various elements.
Elements that have the ability to lose electrons are usually metals
while elements with a capacity for acquiring electrons are non
metalic. Because it's electrons can be easily influenced copper
is often used in electrical applications. If copper is formed
into a length of wire, electron flow can be produced from one
end to the other by applying pressure to the electrons through
the use of a battery or other source of electical force.
In copper, as in other elements, millions of atoms make up the
structure. The single electron in the outer shell, as it travels
in its orbit, may become equidistant between its own atom and the
adjacent one. When this happens,, it is not under the exclusive
attraction of either nucleus and can leave its own orbit to travel
and enter another orbit of an adjacent atom. Hence, the electric
pressure that is applied to such a free electron causes it to
leave one atom and move on to the next. The second atom thus has
a force applied to it, in the form of an arriving electron, and
in turn transfers a free electron to the next atom. This progression
of electrons through the copper wire is known ascurrent flow.
When the outer shell or orbit of an atom is filled or almost
filled with electrons, movement through the element is difficult
to produce and consequently the substance is called aninsulator
which means it is a nonconductor of electricity or electrical
current. When only a few electrons are part of the outer shell
of the atoms the substance has the ability to permit current to
flow through it on application of electric pressure and thus is
known as aconductor.
Magnetism
The changing of the number of electrons in the atoms of a substance
causes fields to form in the area of the substance. There are two
types of fields, electrostatic and electromagnetic. Electrostatic
fields are created when a condition of either insufficient or excessive
electrons exist. Magnetic fields are created by the alignment of
orbital spins of electrons. Electrostatic fields can be produced
by applying friction to objects, which also produces electron
movement. If for instance, a silk cloth is rubbed against a glass
rod, it will tear electrons away from the rod and absorb them into
its own atomic structure. As a result, the affected atoms of the
glass rod will have an electron deficiency and hence the rod is
said to be positively charged. An atom with one or more of it's
normal quota of electrons removed becomes a positive ion and the
net charge of the atom is positive. A group of such atoms, constituting
a particular element, will cause that element to have a positive
charge. Thus, rubbing the glass rod with silk caused an electron
movement from the glass to the silk and created a positive charge
in the rod and a negative charge in the silk.
Fields
A charged particle producesfieldsthat emanate from it.
These fields can be likened to tenticles of electricity that,
though invisible, extend out from the charged particle in all
directions and are capable of influencing other charged materials.
Thus, if two charged rods are suspended next to each other they
will repel each other since the polarities of the fields are the
same.
Lines of Force
A common term used to describe electrostatic fields (as well as the
magnetic fields) islines of force.This is a concept originating
withMichael Faraday(1791-1867) the British physicist and
chemist who visualized the fields as having tension or stress.
The lines of force are referenced as originating from the north
pole or positive charge and terminating at the south pole or
negative charge. A charged particle will hold it's charge in a
dormant or static state until it is discharged. The terms
electrostatic charge and electrostatic lines of force are based
on the word static.
Charles Coulomb(1736-1806) was the first to state the law
of charged bodies:
The force between two electrically charged bodies is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between the two, and directly proportional to the
product of the two charges.
The electrostatic charge unit is called the Coulomb in
honor of this French scientist, and the unit is the quantity
of charge carried by electrons in the amount of 6.28 times the
product of 10 multiplied by itself 18 times. Thus, to represent
such a large number of electrons, a long string of zeros would
be necessary, but there are abbreviated methods of writing them.
The Coulomb is used to determine the amount of force applied
between two magnetically charged objects.
Force= m1 x m2 devided by D squared
Where m1 and m2 represent the strength of each pole and D
represents the distance in centimeters between the two poles.
As with other basic priciples of electronics and electricity
early scientist focused their attention on magnetism and
attempted to evaluate and explain it, as well as to set up
fundamental laws governing its behavior. One of these earlier
scientists was the German physicist Wilhelm Weber (1804-1891),
who made the proposition that each molecule of a magnetic
substance was a permanent magnet in itself. Later Sir James
Ewing (1855-1935) the Scottish engineer and physicist offered
an explanation of magnetism based on Weber's earlier theory. In
consequence the Weber-Ewing concepts are known as the
molecular theory of magnetism. According to this theory
the magnet molecules of magnetic material such as iron and steel
are normally in a random arrangment, and their effect on each
other is a neutralizing one; that is, the magnetic material has
no overall polarity and no attraction for the other magnetic
materials. When the material is magnetized the molecules are in
orderly arrangement and one magnetic particle aids the other to
form a north polarity at one end and a south polarity at the other,
then it is a magnet or is said to be magnetized.
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