how is electric energy produced?
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At the very basics it has to do with magnetic fields. When a conductor (ie copper wire) is move across (perpendicular to) a magnet-ic field it causes the electrons in the copper wire to move\n\nthis is very basic info and their are other ways like solar cells (due to electron excitment in a different manner)
670720
electric can come from solar energy gas is made of oil and if people use gas powered cars earth might run out of oil and solar power can keep on going
563634
How was the electricity produced?  If it was from coal, then it is a dirtier form of energy than Natural gas.\n\nIt is more efficient to heat with natural gas than electricity.\n\nNormally, it is more efficient to cool with electricity than with natural gas.\n\nNatural gas is a non-renewable resource (at present).  Electricity can be produced by hydro-electric, coal, solar, wind, etc.\n\nHouses don't explode when they have an electricity leak, they can explode from a gas leak.
1088489
Energy can exist in many form... \nConsidering the forms of potential energy:\n* Chemical energy - energy locked up in a chemical form such as natural gas, or petroleum can be sent by oil tanker or gas pipeline. \n* Nuclear energy so an atomic bomb can also be sent on a rocket.\n* Potential energy say in a catapult transferred to a rock or a cannon ball sent into the sky and it comes down at high speed somehere else.\n\nHowever I presume you were talking here about electric energy, so this is sent down wires, either with low power as in a phone conversation or high power for power distribution.\n Light is a form of electromagnet radiation and can be sent via a laser beam through the air. Radio waves, Heat, microwaves, X rays etc. are also forms of electromagnetic radiation at different frequencies and can also be sent through the air with the need for wires.\n If the question was how can I get electricity in my house without having a generator or being wired up to the electricity grid then Nicolas Tesla was the pioneer of this using ultra low frequency electromangent waves based at Wardenclyffe Tower, Long Island a century ago. The idea was to inject the energy into the earth directly closing the circuit through the conductive upper atmosphere. Unfortunately he ran out of funding before this could be fully demonstrated.
401655
Short answer:  Electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same coin; each can cause the other.  For instance, moving a wire through a magnetic field can create a current, while current flowing through a wire also creates a magnetic field.  Thus, one can generate electricty by using some kinetic energy source--water, wind, what have you--move powerful magnets through wire coils.  There are other ways, of course.
1110557
Energy comes in many forms, right? Electrical, kinetic, potential, heat, chemical etc. And energy can be converted between these forms right? i.e. when you drop something from a height, potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. Same thing when you release a compressed spring. \n\nThe quality of energy refers to the ease with which you can harness it for use and conversion to other forms. For example the energy stored in a battery is high quality energy, since it's easy to harness for use. The ambient heat energy in a room, on the otherhand, is low quality energy, since it not easy or practical to extract the energy for use.
1105028
read this\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy
82937
The electric company generates (makes) electricty, which they send through wires. These wires go to every house. In some places, you can seem them on the street, but in most places they are underground.\n\nWhen you flip a switch, your are connecting the lightbulb to one of these wires. So electricity flows from the wire to the lightbulb. When you close the switch, you disconnect the 2 wires.\n\nThat is what happens. How electricty is made, and how lightbulbs and switches works is a bit more complicated, but for that I suggest Wikipedia:\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity\n\nThe basic idea behind generating electricity though, is that you are freeing electrons from atoms, which then go to other atom/s that absorb them.
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The "power" in any electric current is 'voltage'.\n'Voltage' is the measure of the potential difference of electrons between two substances, and therefore the potential for electrons to be transferred between them.\nBatteries generate electricity through any one of several electrochemical reactions.  \nTwo different types of metals are placed in a catalyst (usually a liquid).  When a circuit is completed between the positive side and the negative side, electrolysis occurs - the above mentioned transferring of electrons through chemical reactions from one metal to the other.  The difference in potential felt between the  positive and negative charges (giving off an electron results in a positive charge, accepting it results in a negative charge) is again your volts.\nThe reaction continues until the battery reaches homeostasis (equilibrium, balance).\nIn some kinds of batteries applying an outside electric current properly can reverse the process - allowing you to recharge the battery.\nRechargeable batteries eventually become exhausted because of of oxidation of the polarizing metals or due to a 'memory' buildup.  'Memory' refers to a battery that is not completely discharged before it is recharged.  This is the major reason for the degradation of rechargeable battery life cycles.
156475
Moving water as in a river or water tuned to steam can turn a turbine and produce electricity.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbine
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The easiest form of energy to produce is thermal energy.   It's produced accidentally from almost every other type of energy.   When electricity flows through a wire, some of it is dissipated as heat because of electrical resistance.   When the wind blows past your house, some of its kinetic energy is dissipated as heat.   The reason a sound dies away is because it goes to heat up the air.   If you shine a light on a dark surface it is absorbed and turned into heat energy.   This is because heat is the most disordered form of energy.   Turning heat into other forms of energy is more difficult.   You need some sort of machine like a petrol engine, steam engine or rocket motor.   This is the second law of thermodynamics; entropy (disorder) increases.
17746
electromagnetic energy (light) is converted to chemical energy, or rather chemical potential energy.
674011
The sunlight dislodges electrons from the material making up the solar panels (mostly silicon).  These electrons create an electric potential, hence current can be created.  Panels are installed where there is direct sunlight and pointed toward the average position of the sun (local south, at some angle above the horizon) or on a device which follows the course of the sun.  The panels create direct current, so can be thought of as batteries, but they do not store electricity.  The current can be used to 1)power a device, 2)recharge a battery, or 3)create alternating current by means of an inverter.
231801
The first 5 leters of the word electricity come from the word 'electron'. In the study of electricity (or electical engineering if you like), 2 quantities help us understand how elecricity works, they are;\n1.Current which is defined as the rate of flow of charge,i.e. how fast charges movein a medium, you see electrons are (negatively) charged particles, when a couple of electons move(say in a wire) current is said to flow, based on how well electrons will flow in a material all materials are classified under cconductors(like metals) and insulators(like wood).Conductors have higer 'conductivities'than wood. this is important to note because based on the molecular structures of materials electrons dont always flow as freely as they would like, the atoms in the material(based on the ambient temperature) offer opposition to the flow of electrons, this is called resistance.For short you could say current is the flow of electrons.\n2.Voltage, which is what causes the electons to flow, it works by creating differnt levels of voltage at the end of the wire much like having a pipe at different levels of height so water can flow. if the pipe were flat on the floor the water will remain where it is.\n\nThis flow of electons is useful for example in the simple light bulb which works by a material givivg of light and heat as its form of reistance (mentioned earlier)in other words only when current flows in this material, will light come on.\n\nElecricity is the flow of current(or electrons form the explanation above)\n\nEnginners and scientists always find ways of getting the right amount of voltage and current based on their understanding of the behavior of materials to acheive all the electrical feats you've seen.\n\nReminds me of a question i was asked once 'if electricity is just a flow of electrons meaning all the electrons coming into my house leaves eventually, then why do i pay bills'. I am sure you can answer now that the electrons may be free but the voltage for driving it is not free. This is what generating stations generate.
330278
Electricity is a form of energy that can be transmitted efficiently through copper wires because it is a good conductor. To transmit the same electricity through air, you will need very high voltage as air has a high resistance. Additionally, the efficiency will also be reduced as there may be arcing. High voltage is also dangerous.\n\nHowever, when we send a Radio Wave, it is also a form of energy. In the early days of Radio, there is a circuit that is popular with Radio enthusiasts called the Crystal Radio. The Crystal Radio does not need a battery to power it. It uses the Radio Signals itself. With some innovative design, one can tap into the Radio waves and convert that into electrical energy. This is a form of wireless electricity. However, the power level is very low.\n\nSo potentially, it is possible but there are probably many challenges ahead. Today, it is still not viable but we never can tell, technology has always done the impossible.\n\nFor very short range, electricity may be wirelessly  transmitted via induction (magnetic fields). Some pace makers are recharged via induction.
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In most electric power plants, water is heated and converted into steam, which drives a turbine-generator to produce electricity. Fossil-fueled power plants produce heat by burning coal, oil, or natural gas. In a nuclear power plant, the fission of Uranium atoms in the reactor provides the heat to produce steam for generating electricity.\n\nHeat is produced in a nuclear reactor when neutrons strike Uranium atoms causing them to fission in a continuous chain reaction. Control elements, which are made of materials that absorb neutrons, are placed among the fuel assemblies. When the control elements, or control rods as they are often called, are pulled out of the core, more neutrons are available and the chain reaction speeds up, producing more heat. When they are inserted into the core, more neutrons are absorbed, and the chain reaction slows or stops, reducing the heat. \n  Most commercial nuclear reactors use ordinary water to remove the heat created by the fission process. These are called light water reactors. The water also serves to slow down, or "moderate" the neutrons. In this type of reactor, the chain reaction will not occur without the water to serve as a moderator.
265804
Electricity doesn't exactly do work.  Electricity is a form of energy that enables other things to do work.  Like food in your body.  Your body does the work, the food provides the energy.  Electricity is one form of stored energy that is extracted from a number of different sources, like coal, oil, the sun, flowing water, or splitting atoms.