Lesson 2: How is Electricity Produced?

What Is It?

Before delving into how electricity is produced, let’s begin with a little “Electricity 101.” To
put it simply, electricity is the flow of electrons from one place to another, more specifically
flowing around a circuit.

You can probably think back to your high school chemistry class (with either fondness or
disgust – there’s not much in between!) where you learned about atoms, or the “building
blocks of life.” Electrons are negatively charged subatomic particles. If one of these
electrons is freed from an atom and forced to move, electricity is produced.

The outermost electrons, or valence electrons, require the least amount of force to be freed
from an atom. When free electrons find new atoms to latch onto, they “kick out” an existing
electron and the process begins all over again, producing an electric current.

Elements like copper, silver and gold have very mobile electrons, which means these
elements are great conductors of electricity. This knowledge plays a significant role in how
our electric power is produced!

How is it produced?

In order for you to flip a switch or press an “on” button, electricity is working hard behind
the scenes. Let’s explore the journey electricity takes from the power plant to you.

Electricity begins with one of the three main types of fuel: fossil fuel (like coal, oil and
natural gas), nuclear power and renewable alternatives (like wind, solar and
hydropower). This fuel creates steam or fluid that moves a turbine, which turns a magnet
in a generator. This movement causes those electrons to move, which produces
electricity!

It doesn’t stop there, though – this electric current still has a long way to travel to get to
you. Once the generator produces electric current, it’s transported through thick wires to
transformers, which amplify the voltage. This high-voltage electricity is carried to the
power grid. One at the power grid, electricity is moved to different substations, which
reduce the voltage for use in large settings like factories.

For electricity to actually make it to you, it’s distributed to local transformers through
power lines, which are either buried or mounted. These local transformers further reduce
voltage so you’re receiving electricity safely. When it finally arrives in your home and you
flip that switch or press that “on” button, you’ve completed the circuit and electricity will
 flow.

There you have it! Now that you’re well equipped with the basics on electricity and how it
gets to you, you’re ready to tackle any electrical question that comes your way – which
might come in handy Junior high school chemistry project!

Electricity can be broken down into:

 Electric Charge

Negative & Positive Charges

What do the effects of electricity in TV, radio, a battery, and lightening all have in common?

Basic particles of electric charge with opposite polarities.

Electrons - The smallest amount of electrical charge having the quality called negative
polarity. Electrons orbit the center of atoms.

Protons - is a basic particle with positive polarity. Protons are located in the nucleus of atoms
along with neutrons, particles which have neutral polarity.

Electrically, all materials fall into 1 of 3 classifications:

1. Conductors - Have 1 valence electron. Materials in which electrons can move

freely from atom to atom are called conductors. In general, all metals are good
conductors. The purpose of conductors is to allow electrical current to flow with
minimum resistance.

2. Insulators - Have 8 valence electrons. Materials in which electrons tend to stay

put and do not flow easily from atom to atom are termed insulators. Insulators
are used to prevent the flow of electricity. Insulating materials such as glass,
rubber, or plastic are also called dielectrics, meaning they can store charges.
 Dielectric materials are used in components like capacitors which must store
electric charges.

3. Semi-Conductors - Have 4 valence electrons. Materials which are neither

conductors nor insulators. Common semi conductor materials are carbon,
germanium and silicone. Used in components like transistors
 Activity 1

How Electricity is Produced?

1. Observe the diagram and describe the processes involve.
2. With the tables below, fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

Generating electricity

1. Traditional power stations

(a) Fuel used:

1. ______________

2. ______________
(b ) Generating electricity

generator

steam
boiler

fuel
turbine cable tower

condenser cooling tower

cold water

Step Description

1 The ___________ is burnt to release ___________.

2 The ___________ released boils the water to ___________.

3 The ___________ turns the ___________.

 4 The ___________ drives the ___________.

5 The ___________ produces ___________.

6 ___________ is transmitted through ___________ to our homes.

Cause & effect in the steps

Step Cause Effect

1 The fuel is burnt. Heat is released.

What is the pattern in the descriptions?

__________________________________________________________________________

(c) Energy conversion

Step Energy conversion

1 ____________________ of fuel  ____________________

2 ____________________________ ____________________________

3
____________________________ ____________________________

4
____________________________ ____________________________

5
____________________________ ____________________________

6 /
2. Hydro-electric power station

(a) A dam is built to store water at a high position.

( b ) Generating electricity

dam

water out generator

turbine

1. What does the dam release? Water at a high position

2. What turns the turbine? Water at a high position

3. What does the turbine do? The turbine drives the generator.

4. What does the generator produce? The generator produces electricity.

Electricity is transmitted through power cables to our

5. How does the electricity transmit to our

home?
homes.

Explain how electricity is generated in a hydro-electric power station.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

(c) Energy conversion

Step Energy conversion

1 _____________________ of water  ____________________________

2 ____________________________  kinetic energy of turbine

3 kinetic energy of turbine  ____________________________

4 ____________________________  ____________________________

5 /
3. Nuclear power station

(a) Fuel used: ______________________

(b) Generating electricity

Explain how electricity is generated in a nuclear power station.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
(c) Energy conversion

Step Energy conversion

6 /