Week 2, muggle magic

[Prof. Beth]

*Bethany walks into the class room and hits the board with her wand, big letters apear*

WEEK 2, MUGGLE MAGIC

Welcome to week 2! this week we will learn about muggle magic, does anyone know what I mean by that?

OOC: I am soory this is late, but I could not help it

[RonaldPotter]

I don't.

[Prof. Beth]

no one?

[Prof. HermioneLover]

Muggle Magic: the magic which muggles call "machines."


It's amazing how much magic we muggles do encounter in our lives. It's only since the 1800s and the arrival of the Machine Age(s) that humans learned to expect to be amazed by mechanical devices. Before then, improvements in technology moved along at a slow and steady pace and most often reached the attention of experts, rather than the average person. With the arrival of steam power, followed by gas and electricity, more and more wonders burst upon the scene, until someone born in the beginning of the 20th century would probably learn at their mother's knee that they could expect to see some wild changes in technology in their lifetimes. Television was then introduced, but the wonders have not stopped even there — color TV, cable TV, remote controls, VCRs, TiVo, DVDs. Clocks have morphed into radios. Wrist watches have become clocks and calculators. Calculators have become PDAs. Phones travel in pockets and purses and take pictures worth a thousand words. Hey! Pretty good for mere muggles, huh?

Sometimes it's not the devices but the muggles themselves that become magic. Ironically, we may only fully comprehend our magic moments when the magic has gone. For example, when online came into my professional life, I became a Magic Muggle for years. Mighty clients with signatures that could authorize tens of thousands in expenditures, educated clients with rows of abbreviated degrees behind their names, even Nobel prize laureates would bow before me — well, at least call and speak politely.

HermioneLover- Gryffindor

awesome! that is what I was looking for! 50 points to Gryffindor for such an awesome answer!

[Prof. Beth]

So this leason we are going to look at what muggles call electricity. My next question is smiple

What muggle thought up electricity? I just want the name nothing more.

[RonaldPotter]

The muggle who invented electricity is Thomas Edison.

Correct!! 20 points to hufflepuff!

[Prof. Beth]

Question Closed


Ok how does electricity work?

[Prof. HermioneLover]

How Is Electricity Created?

When electrons move from one atom to another (voltage) creating unbalance
or flow, you have electrical current.


There are two kinds of electricity...

Static Electricity -- A condition that exists when electrons are
displaced and remain so. Static electricity is usually the result of
friction. Lightning is an example of static electricity. Static elec-
tricity makes your hair stand
on end. If you take an inflated balloon and rub it on your head, it will cling to your clothes. Or try turning on the faucet a bit and hold a comb close to -- but not in -- the water. Notice how the water is "pulled" toward the comb. This is because the static electrical charge in the comb is attracting electrons
in the water.
Current Electricity -- A constant flow of electrons.
Direct current (DC) means the electrons move in one direction.
Alternating current (AC) means the electrons flow in both directions.

Did you know that electricity...

Can't generally be stored (by definition)
Has no weight, size, color or odor
Travels at the speed of light (i.e., 186,000 miles per second)

There are two ways to produce electricity...

Batteries
Chemical reactions (two dissimilar metals in acid) force electrons to move. This creates direct current electricity.

Generators
This machine converts the mechanical energy of a rotating turbine shaft into electrical energy through use of magnetic fields.

How electricity is generated...

Three basic elements are required to produce electricity:

Motion (required to rotate a turbine)
Magnetic Field
Conductors
A form of energy is required to rotate a turbine which is attached to the shaft of the generator rotor. The rotor spins through the stator producing electricity.

There are several ways to turn the turbine. Some of the most common ways include burning fossil fuels to produce steam. Some of the fossil fuels might be coal, gas or oil. Nuclear energy is used to produce steam by the splitting of atoms (nuclear fission) which turns the turbine. Hydropower turns the turbine when water falls through it. Other less common sources used to produce electricity include: solar power, wind power, biomass (using organic material to produce steam), geothermal power, ocean or tidal power and fuel cells.


HermioneLover- Gryffindor

[GALLEONS AWARDED 3 by - Prof. Beth - correct!]

[Prof. Beth]

great! question closed someone tell me how a light bulb works and then I will go post your home work

[RonaldPotter]

A light bulb is really quite simple. Have you ever seen pictures of molten steel being poured? If you have, you will notice that it is glowing white-hot. A light bulb is simply a small metal wire that is glowing with heat. In this case, the metal is tungsten (W on the Periodic Table). This is important because tungsten is solid at very high temperatures. A light bulb also has most of the air sucked out of it. If it didn't, the wire would actually burn up instantly. When a light bulb "burns out", it is because the filament slowly vaporizes; the black on the inside of a burned out lightbulb is really just resolidified metal vapor.

Now back to how a lightbulb works. Electricity flowing through the wire causes it to heat up. This heat makes it glow. It heats up because of a concept called resistance. When electricity passes through something, the substance it is passing through tries to hold on to the electrons. The electrons have to be forced through. Some of this force is absorbed by the metal and given off as heat. As the filament heats up, it gives off light.

The heat energy goes into electrons of the tungsten atoms. The energy pushes the electrons farther away from the nucleus of the atoms. As the electrons fall back, they give off photons, little bits of light.

Fluorescent light bulbs work similarly. Electricity moves in pulses through a tube. The electricity hits special molecules inside the tube and their electrons are knocked away. As their electrons fall back, light is given off. In this case, the electrons are knocked off by electrictiy, not heat, and therefore, fluorescent light bulbs can be cooler. Since they are cooler, nothing vaporizes, and the fluorescent light bulb lasts longer.


[GALLEONS AWARDED 3 by - Prof. Beth - Awesome!]

[Prof. Beth]

Great! I would say that we have learned alot about electricity this week, I am going to go post your homework, which you can now get galleons for.


CLASS DISSMISSED!