The beginning of electricity in the United States
Benjamin Franklin began experimenting with electricity in the United States and documented the experiments. He was able to finance his extensive work by selling his belongings. He is known for flying a kite in a storm that had a wet string and a key attached to the end. When he watched the sparks leaping from the key into his hand, he realized that lightning was a natural form of electricity.
Alessandro Volta of Italy invented the electric cell in 1800, which made it easier for scientists to study electricity and its various applications. When electrical cells are connected to each other, a battery is created.
Alexander Graham Bell is known to have invented the telephone. Bell has worked as a teacher for deaf students professionally, which explains his fascination with different ways of transmitting sounds. During his experiments with sound transmission, he began to use electricity, which eventually led to his success with the telephone.
Thomas Doolittle, a Connecticut mill worker, created the method that was used to create the first hand-drawn copper wire that is strong enough to be used as a telegraph wire. A man named Michael Faraday discovered that electricity was created when a magnet was passed through ordinary copper wire. This is the application that is used in the United States power plant to generate electricity that is delivered to customers across the country. Both the electric generator and are based on this principle. A generator takes mechanical energy and converts it into electricity. On the other hand, motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy.
While Thomas Edison experimented with electricity, he was able to invent the electric light bulb in addition to many other devices. His biggest challenge in creating the bulb was finding the right material to use for the filament. It was installed on carbon-soaked cotton yarn. The charcoal was used to prevent the cotton yarn from burning. The thread glowed as electricity traveled through it. As soon as the popularity of the light bulb caught on, he turned his attention to developing power plants that would run on the light bulbs. The first power plant he built began operating in 1882 and served 85 New York City customers.
A major turning point occurred in 1895. The power plant that was built by Edison was only capable of transporting power a short distance as it used direct DC current. Power was transmitted approximately one square mile around the power plant. With the development of alternating current or AC in 1895, the plant was able to transport power more than 200 miles from the newly built power plant at Niagara Falls.
Electricity took a long time to catch on in the United States. Many people were excited about the new inventions, but some were afraid of electric current and were hesitant to install it in their homes. Some people could not pay the price for the service. Electricity was blamed for causing the end of the simple life. Many people felt that electric lights were less romantic than the gas they were used to.
Many exhibitions and fairs often featured displays showing recent inventions that used electricity as a source of energy. The 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago exhibited 5,000 arc lights and 90,000 incandescent lamps. People who visited the exhibition had the opportunity to view or mount the different electrified exhibits that included three cranes, various water fountains, a moving sidewalk, elevators, and a tram system that was created by General Electric.
The Pan American Exposition that was held in Buffalo, NY in 1901 used electricity as its theme. An electrical tower that was 400 feet tall, displaying 40,000 lights was featured in addition to the Electricity Building which housed a huge display of appliances.
Energy became accessible to more people as small power companies began to spring up across the country. Several of the smaller companies began to merge and form large conglomerates, the largest being General Electric and Westinghouse. These two companies began building power plants that were equipped with generators that used the combustion of fossil fuels and steam to produce electricity. Other plants were being built that used kinetic energy to generate energy such as water or wind. Once nuclear power was developed, the energy that was released when nuclear reactions occurred was used to create electricity.
The demand for electricity grew 12% each year during the first thirty years of the 20th century. To meet current demand for electricity, renewable resources are being deployed to supply much-needed energy. Many people use solar energy, hydroelectric energy and wind energy are used to meet consumer demands and protect the environment.