¿Have you ever wondered how electricity reaches your home? #Learnmore

josealbertomg71 (47)in #steemstem • 7 years ago (edited)

Hello stemians!

A cordial greeting for the people who make life in this social network. Every day we ask ourselves questions about the things we observe around us, in my case, I happened to answer the big question of many people. How does the electricity get to our house? We know simple things, where it came from, who studied it and even who discovered it, "Benjamin Franklin", the great scientist, among others ... But we do not know the processes that are carried out to produce electricity.

#Learnmore

Electricity is generated first in large power plants; These can be thermal, nuclear or hydroelectric.

Thermal Power Plants

The thermal or thermoelectric power plants are those that transform the chemical energy contained in a fuel into electrical energy. The fuel burns and produces heat, which heats the water and passes it to high pressure steam. This steam hits a turbine that spins an electric generator (alternator) and produces electricity. This process is what is followed in thermal power plants. Depending on the fuel that is used to heat the water, we have several different types of thermal power plants.

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Nuclear power plants:

Nuclear power plants decompose uranium or plutonium "Chemical elements of the periodic table" to release a large amount of heat.

Nuclear power plants use heat generated from nuclear fission in a contained environment to convert water into steam, which provides power to generators to produce electricity. There are active nuclear power plants in many states of the country and produce approximately 20% of the nation's electricity. Nearly 3 million Americans live within 10 miles (16 km) of an active nuclear power plant.

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Although the construction and operation of these facilities are highly controlled and regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), accidents can occur. An accident can produce dangerous levels of radiation that could affect the health and safety of the population living near the nuclear power plant.

Hydroelectric power stations

The force of the water flow is used to start the turbines. they are installed in rivers where dams are built to form reservoirs and when the water is released, the force of its fall is harnessed to produce electricity.

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From the power plant; by means of thick wires, electricity is sent to large electrical construction towers, then it is sent by narrower cables to the electric poles "Located in the city". Other times, it is sent underground.

Every home comes a cable that passes through an electric meter, responsible for measuring the electricity we generate, next to it is located the "fuse box" that controls all the electric current in your home; From there all the cables that go to the rooms, kitchen, living room among others are distributed; in the form of circuits together with electricity sockets and switches.

Thanks for reading me

¡Good Friday!