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Electricity question.
October 29, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I was just wondering, and I'm sure this is a very easy question to answer but, if you turn a light bulb off by flicking the light switch to the off position, what happens to the electricity? What change takes place? Does it go static? What happens?
I actually have no idea. I'm sure this is a very easy question for atleast some of you. But I actually don't know. So what's the answer?
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RE: Electricity question.
October 29, 2008 at 4:15 pm
(This post was last modified: October 29, 2008 at 4:18 pm by leo-rcc.)
There are 2 things with electricity: Current and potential. When a circuit is open the potential (voltage) is there, there is no voltage on one side and a certain voltage on the other. Electricity want to equalize itself out. When the switch closes the circuit the electrons can start to flow, which we call current. The more current, the more energy.
Now in various countries the potential differs. in the US its 120V now I believe, and in Europe it is 230V. also the alternation varies between 60hz and 50 hz. This means that the direction of the electrons gets reversed 50 to 60 times a second in an alternating current.
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
