Electricity in the U.S.
Electrical Vocabulary
Renewable Energy and The Environment
Electrical Circuits
Electrical Components
100
These are the main sources of electricity in the U.S.
What is natural gas, nuclear, coal, and renewables?
100
This refers to the "pressure" or "push" in an electrical system.
What is voltage?
Measured in "Volts"
100
This includes reduced carbon emissions, improved reliability, job creation, and energy independence.
What are the benefits of renewable energy?
100
This refers to a circuit that only has one path for electrical current to flow.
What is a series circuit?
100
This device, made up of semiconductors, generates electricity from the sun's photons.
What is a solar panel?
200
This refers to primary source of electricity in the United States
What are fossil fuels or natural gas?
200
This refers to the flow of electricity (i.e. flow of electrons).
What is current?
Measured in "Amps"
200
This refers to the long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
What is climate change?
200
This refers to a material that electricity can easily flow through.
What is a conductor?
200
This is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it.
Hint: current flows through this in one direction only.
Bonus 100 points: This is the full name of the component.
What is an LED?
What is a "Light-Emitting Diode"?
300
This refers to the amount of electricity generation the United States had in 2023.
What is 4.18 TRILLION kilowatthours? (kWh)
(4,180,000,000,000 kWh)
Fun fact: the average US household consumes 10,800 kWh per year.
300
This is an object's ability to accept the flow of current.
What is resistance?
300
This device transfers wind energy to electrical energy.
What are the two most common of these devices?
What is a wind turbine?
Bonus: What is HAWT and VAWT?
(Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine and Vertical Axis Wind Turbine)
300
This refers to a material that electricity has a tough time flowing through.
What is an insulator?
300
This device controls an electrical circuit by turning it on and off.
What is a switch or button?
400
This is the ranking (1 - 4) of the most used electricity sources in the U.S.
What is:
1. Natural Gas
2. Renewables
3. Coal
4. Nuclear
400
This is defined as the rate at which energy is transferred, or the work is completed.
What is Power?
What is P = I x V
P is power (W), I is current (A), V is voltage (V)
400
This refers to a source of energy that is caused by the movement of air from high pressure to low pressure.
What is wind?
400
This refers to a type of electrical circuit with multiple paths for electrical current to flow.
What is a parallel circuit?
400
This component converts the electrical energy into kinetic energy.
What is a motor?
500
These are the four primary energy sources used in Virginia.
What is natural gas, motor gasoline, interstate electricity, and nuclear electric power?
500
This describes the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
Hint: V = I x R
What is Ohm's Law?
500
This refers to a self-contained electrical network to generate its own electricity on-site.
What is a microgrid?
500
This refers to a device that can increase or decrease the voltage of an electrical current.
What is a transformer?
500
This device detects and responds to changes in the physical environment. This can be things like light, temperature, sound, or pressure.
What is a sensor?