Understanding basic electricity?

Discussion in 'A+' started by mikehende, May 20, 2006.

  1. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    I think it would be great if we could draw up a simple graphic showing the movement of electricity, eg. I picture a guy standing in front of a regular outlet in the wall with a screwdriver into one of the slots of the outlet, there will be a pic of the 3 wires in the outlet, this way we can show the effects of grounding and eveything related to simple electricity, something which I personally think every Tech should know both for his/her own safety and the safety of the pc. I have come across many tech's who don't know anything about grounding equipment in particular and I sure as hell don't want to be one of those [no offense meant to anyone].

    I realize that we don't need this for the A+ but guys, really, what would happen if you come across someone else's pc that has an electrical short or noise or some other electrical problem, wouldn't it be very embarassing to turn and tell that person that you don't know how to fix the problem or that you will have to consult with someone else?

    What I am proposing here is something that will not take much time and effort and this is something we could all do together so when we are finished with the project we will ALL understand the basics of electricity that will help us.

    Ok, so I propose we draw the graphic first then all of you more experienced guys here who understands this stuff can map out the flow of the electricity for us and give brief explanations then whichever of us has questions we can ask those questions relating to the graphic so it will be easier for everyone to follow, any volunteers on this project please?
     
  2. Malnomates

    Malnomates Megabyte Poster

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    I'll help where i'm needed,but graphical displays are definatley not my forte.
     
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  3. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    That's a start, thanks, I will try to get a friend to create the graphic using clip art if he has the time then we can start here, anyone else interested?
     
  4. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    I know a bit about electrickary and so will jump in with my 2 cents if I feel I can help :)
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  5. moominboy

    moominboy Gigabyte Poster

    as has already been said, i know a wee bit about it but the graphics....... not so good! i'll help if i can.
     
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  6. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    I will start working on the graphic myself from today onwards, should have it done by the end of this week.
     
  7. AJ

    AJ 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 Administrator

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    This sounds like a good plan guys. I look forward to seeing the finished product and learning from it.
     
    Certifications: MCSE, MCSA (messaging), ITIL Foundation v3
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  8. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    Can anyone tell me what the max size of the image will be that I can upload here?
     
  9. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    I can do it if someone tells me what they want.
    I love graphics.
    And electricity.

    My father-in-law taught me about electrics.

    'Hold that'
    'Ouch!'
    'Hang on, try again'
    'Ouch!'
    'Right, wait, now again'
    'Yaaaaaaaarrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!'
    'Right, be careful with that one...'
     
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  10. Malnomates

    Malnomates Megabyte Poster

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    Reminds me of a mate of mine,a leccy by trade,colourblind and locally famous for blowing up showers with frightening regularity.Apparently,a shower has a pink wire according to one eyed Dave and sets itself alight when wired up..!

    Anyways,back on topic peeps,we have a mission to fulfill 8)
     
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  11. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    That would be great Johnny, I have been looking all day for a "free" software to combine the images but no luck so far, if you can do this, to start with, what I am thinking is to have an image of a guy [any clipart image would be fine] holding a screwdriver into an AC wall socket, the screwdriver could simply be an Arrow or thick Line but we would need to see a sideview of the wall receptacle so we could all see the 3 different wires, can you attempt it?
     
  12. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    PM me with exactly what you want.
    I can do it, but not make it up!
     
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  13. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    thanks, check your pm.
     
  14. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    As requested, something to get you all started.
    I'm sure Mike will be along shortly to explain what it all means...

    [​IMG]
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  15. mikehende

    mikehende Kilobyte Poster

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    Great job done here Johnny, thanks but I hope there is no confusion here :D as my intention for this was for "anyone" to answer any questions any of us should have with this basic electricity issue. One of my neighbors is an electrician but he is very busy and is hardly ever at home for me to ask him these questions, I will only go to him only if we can't figure out these things here ourselves.

    So I'll start the ball rolling, my first question is, since MM says in the book that the electricity coming in from the street is like a pipeline filled with water so the Live or Hot wire is filled with electricity, why do we first need both an Earth [Ground] and Neutral wire to get electricity? Anyone?
     
  16. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    As I understand it, it is to do with a differential.
    In the same way as water always flows downhill.
    Where I get confused is if electricity actually flows 'downhill' (i.e. form + to -) or 'uphill' (- to +).
     
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  17. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    If you only had a water pipe coming in your house would rather quickly get swamped! You need another pipe to take the waste water away. This is roughly equivalent to the neutral wire.

    IMHO the water analogy is often used - but it isn't really a close one, so don't try and read too much into it!

    The Neutral wire should be at zero - or earth - potential, but as a safety feature you run an earth wire which is grounded at the house to make sure that exposed metal parts are safe.

    Harry.
     
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  18. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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    Ground - This is required to discharge any excess electric current, "Earth" (where we are standing on) is the best grounding "device".

    Neutral - This stops our equipment from going bang!

    So far as my understanding is, Live gives us the juice (electric), when the Juice overflows the Ground, takes the excess away, and before the juice hits our devices the Neutrals (poss fuse) acts as the barrier and goes pop instead of our device...

    Thats what i think happens, im not sure though, could somneone let me know if i am right?
     
  19. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    'Conventionaly' electric current flows from + to -. As the electric supply is AC then + and - don't really come into this view.

    The 'live' wire is at a voltage with respect to earth, so it is conceptualy usefull to say that it supplies power.

    There are *lots* of arguments as to how this should be explained and viewed - IMHO for A+ you don't need to bother about most of it.

    Harry.
     
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  20. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Er - nowhere near.

    Treat the live and neutral together as a circuit. You could think of the current coming into the house via the live, going through the washing-machine motor to make it turn, and going out via the neutral.

    Harry.
     
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