Electrical Theory -- Simple Basics
Source
Electrical
Theory:
Outline:
-
History of Electricity
-
Atoms
-
Law of Charges
-
Centrifugal Force
-
Valence Electrons
-
Electron Flow
-
Insulators
-
Semiconductors
-
Molecules
This
mysterious force remained little more than a curious
phenomenon until about 2000 years later, when other
people began to conduct experiments. In the early 1600s,
William Gilbert discovered that amber was not the only
material that could be charged to attract other objects.
He called materials that could be charged electriks
and materials that could not be charged noelectriks.
About
300 years ago a few men began to study the behavior of
various charged objects. In 1773, a Frenchman named
Charles DuFay found that a piece of charged glass would
repel some charged objects and attract others. These men
soon learned that the force of repulsion was
just as important as the force of attraction.
From these experiments, two lists were developed.
It
was determined that any material in list A would attract
any material in list B, and that all materials in list A
would repel each other and all material in list B would
repel each other. Various names were suggested for the
materials in lists A and B. Any opposite-sounding names
could have been chosen, such as east and west, north and
south, male and female. Benjamin Franklin named the
materials in list A positive and the materials
in list B negative . The first item in each list
was used as a standard for determining if a charged
object was positive or negative. Any object repelled by a
piece of glass rubbed on silk would have a positive
charge and any item repelled by a hard rubber rod rubbed
on wool would have a negative charge.
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The
proton has a positive charge, the electron has a negative
charge, and the neutron has no charge. The Neutron and
proton combine to form the nucleus of the atom.
Since the neutron has no charge, the nucleus will have a
net positive charge. The number of protons in the nucleus
determines what kind of element an atom is. Oxygen, for
example, contains 8 protons in its nucleus, and gold
contain 79. The atomic number of an element is
the same as the number of protons in the nucleus. The
lines of force produced by the positive charge of the
proton extend outward in all directions. The nucleus may
or may not contain as many neutrons as protons. For
example, an atom of helium contains two protons and two
neutrons in its nucleus, while an atom of copper contains
29 protons and 35 neutrons.
The
electron orbits the outside of the nucleus. An electron
is about three times as large as a proton. The estimated
size of a proton is 0.07 trillionth of an inch in
diameter, and the estimated size of a proton is 0.22
trillionth of an inch in diameter. Although the electron
is larger in size, the proton weighs about 1840 times
more.
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Because the nucleus of an atom is formed from the
combination of protons and neutrons, one might ask why
the protons of the nucleus do not repel each other since
they all have the same charge. Two theories attempt to
explain this. The first asserts that the force of gravity
holds the protons and neutron together. Neutrons, like
protons, are extremely massive particles. Their combined
mass produces, the gravitational force necessary to
overcome the repelling force of the positive charges. The
second explanation involves a theoretical particle called
gluon. A gluon is a subatomic particle that acts
as a bonding agent that not only holds quarks together,
but also holds the protons and neutrons together.
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The law of centrifugal force is the second law of
physics. It states that a spinning object will pull away
from its center point and that the faster it spins, the
greater the centrifugal force becomes. An example of this
would be to tie an object to a string and spin it around,
it will try to pull away from you. The faster the object
spins, the greater the force that tries to pull the
object away. Centrifugal force prevents the electron from
falling into the nucleus of the atom. The faster an
electron spins, the farther away from the nucleus it will
be.
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The
outer shell of an atom is known as the valence shell. Any
electrons located in the outer shell of an atom are known
as valence electrons. The valence shell of an atom cannot
hold more than eight electrons. It is the valence
electrons that are primary concern in the study of
electricity, because it is these that explain much of
electrical theory. A conductor for instance, is generally
made from a material that contains one or two valence
electrons. Atoms with one or two valence electrons are
unstable and can be made to give up these electrons with
little effort. Conductors are materials that permit
electrons to flow through them easily. When an atom has
only one or two valence electrons, these electrons are
loosely held by the atom and are easily given up for the
current flow. Silver, copper, gold, and aluminum all
contain one valence electron and are excellent conductors
of electricity. Silver is the best natural conductor of
electricity, followed by copper, gold, and aluminum.
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Electrical current is the flow of electrons. It is
produced when an electron from one atom knocks electrons
of another atom out of orbit. When an atom contains only
one valence electron, that electron is easily given up
when struck by another electron. The striking electron
gives its energy to the electron being struck. The
striking electron settles into orbit around the atom, and
the electron that was struck moves off to strike another
electron. This same effect in the game of pool. If the
moving cue ball strikes a stationary ball. The stationary
ball then moves off with the most of the cue ball's
energy, and the cue ball stops moving. The stationary
ball did not move off with all the energy of the cue
ball. It moved off with most of the energy of the cue
ball. Some of the cue ball's energy was lost to heat when
it struck the stationary ball. Some energy is also lost
when one electron strikes another. That is why a wire
heats when current flows through it. If too much current
flows through a wire, overheating will damage the wire
and possibly become a fire hazard.
If
an atom containing two valence electrons is struck by a
moving electron, the energy of the striking electron will
be divided between the two valence electrons. If the
valence electrons are knocked out of orbit, they will
contain only half the energy of the striking electron.
This effect can also be seen in the game of pool. If a
moving cue ball strikes two stationary balls at the same
time, the energy of the cue ball is divided between the
two stationary balls. Both stationary balls will move,
but with only half of the cue ball.
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Material containing seven or eight valence electrons are
known as insulators. Insulators are materials that resist
the flow of electricity. When the valence shell of an
atom is full, the electrons are held tightly and are not
given up easily. Some good examples of insulator
materials are rubber, plastic, glass, and wood. The
energy of the moving electron is divided so many times
that it has little effect on the atom. Any atom that has
seven or eight valence electrons is extremely stable and
does not easily give up an electron.
Semiconductors are the materials that are neither good
conductors nor good insulators. Thy contain four valence
electrons and are characterized by the fact that as they
are heated, their resistance decreases. Heat has the
opposite effect on conductors, whose resistance increases
with an increase of temperature. Semiconductors have
become extremely important in the electrical industry
since the invention of the transistor in 1947. All solid
state devices such as diodes, transistors, and integrated
circuits are made from combinations of semiconductors
materials. The two most common materials used in the
production of electronic components are silicon and
germanium. Of the two, silicon is used more often because
of its ability to withstand heat. Before and pure
semiconductor can be used to construct electronic device,
it must be mixed or "doped" with an impurity.
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Although all matter is made from atoms, atoms should not
be confused with molecules , which are the smallest part
of a compound. Water, for example, is a compound, not an
element. The smallest particle of water a molecule made
of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. If the
molecule of water is broken apart, it becomes two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, and is no longer
water.
Back to the top
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