Section 1
This subatomic particle is approximately 1,800 times less massive than a proton, which is why it is the primary carrier of electric current in materials.
What is Electron
Often referred to as "electric pressure," this quantity is technically the measure of electric potential difference between two points in a circuit.
Voltage
Unlike electricity, which has independent positive and negative charges, the fundamental unit of magnetism is always found in this "two-pole" form.
Magnetic Dipole
This set of four equations, compiled by a Scottish physicist, unified the theories of electricity and magnetism and predicted electromagnetic waves.
Maxwell's Equations
At the start of the 1920s, only one in three American homes had electricity; by the end of the decade, this percentage had risen to nearly 70%.
33%
Named after a French physicist, this law provides an "inverse square" equation to calculate the specific electric force between two charged objects.
What is Coulomb's Law
In household wiring, devices are connected in this type of circuit to ensure that if one lightbulb burns out, the others remain lit.
Parallel
This Danish scientist first proved the connection between electricity and magnetism in 1820 by showing that a current-carrying wire could deflect a compass needle.
According to Faraday's Law, a voltage can be generated in a wire loop without a battery as long as this specific quantity is changing over time.
Magnetic Flux
This 1859 event saw a coronal mass ejection hit Earth, causing telegraph wires to catch fire and auroras to appear in the tropics.
The Carrington Event
This phenomenon occurs when a charged object is brought near a neutral insulator, causing the atoms in the insulator to shift their internal charges slightly without the object ever touching them.
Electric Polarization
This circuit component, consisting of two conductors separated by a dielectric, is used to store charge for a sudden, temporary burst of current.
capacitor
This Law, the magnetic analogue to Gauss's Law, allows us to determine the magnetic field around a long straight wire by drawing circular loops.
Ampere's Law
Electromagnetic waves are classified as this type of wave because their oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of the wave's motion.
Transverse Wave
Because the speed of light is constant for all observers, relativity dictates that a fast-moving object will appear shorter, a phenomenon known by this term.
Length Contraction
According to Gauss's Law, if you triple the amount of charge enclosed within a Gaussian surface, the total electric field flux through that surface will change by this factor.
Triple
This specific term is used by engineers as a shorthand for voltage in the context of circuits, though it is not actually a "force" despite its name.
Electromotive Force
Materials like iron that can retain a large-scale magnetic field even after an external field is removed are categorized by this specific term.
Ferromagnetic
To prevent a generator from becoming a perpetual motion machine, this law states that an induced current will always create a magnetic field that opposes the change that caused it.
Lenz's Law
Before it was understood as a physical force, 18th-century "spectacles" briefly popularized the idea that electricity was actually this mysterious essence.
The Force of Life
While most materials are conductors or insulators, these specific substances, used in LEDs, require a "big chunk of energy" to allow electrons to flow into a higher energy level.
Semiconductors.
A 100-watt lightbulb is left on for 10 hours. Given that a kilowatt-hour is the standard unit for billing, identify the total energy used in kilowatt-hours.
1 kWh
Inside this device—a cylinder of wire loops—the magnetic field is constant and independent of position, making it useful for MRI machines.
Solenoid
In the context of the "Current Wars," this device was the key advantage of Alternating Current, as it allowed voltage to be "stepped up" or "stepped down" for long-distance travel.
Transformer
Albert Einstein was inspired to derive the theory of relativity after noting that whether a magnet moves toward a conductor or vice versa, the resulting current is the same—a concept known as this.
Relative Motion