Keep visiting for daily dose of Tips and Tutorials. Email Address. Home » Electronics History Timeline 4. Table of Contents:. Top 10 Semiconductor Companies in Taiwan. November 21, at pm. Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea that electricity has positive and negative elements and that electricity flowed through these elements.
He believed that lightning is a form of this flowing electricity. In , Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment. In order to show that lightning is a form of flowing electricity, he flew a kite during a thunderstorm. He tied a metal key to the kite string to provide a path to conduct the electricity.
Just as he thought, electricity from the storm clouds transferred to the kite and flowed down the string and gave him a shock. But one of the controversial questions is: was Benjamin Franklin really the first person to discover electricity? Maybe not! Because In the year close to AD, An English physicist named William Gilbert wrote a book on the attractive nature of amber fossilized tree resin and used the Latin word "Electricus" to describe it.
He wrote many books, and in his books of physics. He came up with the word Electricity to describe his investigations based on William Gilbert's work. So Gilbert and Browne are credited with being the first scientists to use the term " Electricity. The first man who discovered a steady flow of electrical charge was Alessandro Volta.
Around century an Italian doctor named Luigi Galvani had found that a frog's leg twitched when it touched with two different kinds of metals. Then Volta studied Galvani's observation and he concluded that there is a kind of electrical potential between two metals. Which causes the electrical charge to flow through the frog's leg and makes it twitch.
Volta found that, in the presence of electrical potential, an electrical charge can flow through a metal wire-like water flowing through a pipe. Then He used his observation to invent Electrical batteries. During the s, electricians began using metal conduit, in which several insulated wires were enclosed in rigid metal tubes.
After , grounded wires, which direct stray electrical current back into the ground, created a safer environment for homeowners. If your house was built before , ground circuit fault interrupters [GFCI] are a great upgrade option. Check with a licensed electrician for more information. Most modern homes also have circuit breakers that immediately shut off power if they sense an overload, providing additional safeguards. Well into the 20 th century, most Americans continued to illuminate their homes using gas lamps.
In , only half of American houses had electrical power. Initially, electricity was used primarily for lighting. But as appliances like vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and washing machines became more popular starting in the s, demand for electricity grew by leaps and bounds. As we settle into the 21 st century, electricity continues to evolve, yet innovations — at least when it comes to our sources of power — have come more slowly.
Coal, petroleum, and natural gas have been our primary sources of electrical production since the early 20 th century, and alternating current still reigns. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, renewable energy is the fastest-growing source of electricity in the United States, increasing 67 percent from to Eco-conscious entrepreneurs are committed to the transition from fossil fuels to renewable electricity — which includes not only wind and solar, but also a renewed focus on hydroelectric power.
As technology improves over the next few decades, a transition to renewable power sources as our primary producers of electricity is likely.
In addition, direct current has been making a comeback: LEDs and computers use DC, and engineers have learned that DC may actually be more efficient than AC when transmitting millions of volts over large regions. New DC transformers are able to convert from low to very high voltages just like traditional transformers do with AC.
Increased use of electric cars, which operate on DC power, will also push the demand for DC.
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