Science Buddies profiles careers you perhaps never even considered. Do you know what a power distributor and dispatcher does? Someone has to control the flow of electricity along the transmission lines to be sure nothing takes the power...

One of the "Episodes in Romantic Science," this is as complete as a biography gets without being a book. Includes great information about Oersted and his electromagnetic work, The definitive source. Heavily footnoted with many additional...

The Applied Science resource consists of practical activities that demonstrate the importance of standard procedures in scientific work. Students examine electrical properties through a variety of activities. Some topics investigated are...

This unit teaches students the foundations of electrical circuits and introduces them to their simplest components. Covers series and parallel circuits, Kirchhoff's Rules, Ohm's Law, RC circuits, resistivity, and capacitance.

Hans Christian Orsted's accidental discovery that an electrical current moves a compass needle rocks the scientific world; a spate of experiments follows, immediately leading to the first electromagnet and electric motor.

Aided by tools such as static electricity machines and Leyden jars, scientists continue their experiments into the fundamentals of magnetism and electricity.

This article helps students understand the concepts of electricity and circuits.

Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison duke it out over the best way to transmit electricity and Heinrich Hertz is the first person (unbeknownst to him) to broadcast and receive radio waves.

The first telegraphs are constructed and Michael Faraday produces much of his brilliant and enduring research into electricity and magnetism, inventing the first primitive transformer and generator.

Albert Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity and his theory on the quantum nature of light, which he identified as both a particle and a wave. With ever new appliances, electricity begins to transform everyday life.

The Scientific Revolution takes hold, facilitating the groundbreaking work of luminaries such as William Gilbert, who took the first truly scientific approach to the study of magnetism and electricity and wrote extensively of his findings.

Review the components of a circuit and their symbols such as battery, resistor, and switch. Analyze how the power of a resistor is related to the current and electric potential difference across the resistor.

A very simple electrical resistance thermometer is described that can be built, calibrated and tested in a school laboratory at virtually no cost. With it, flames, focused sunlight and other high temperature sources can be probed. The...

With his famous kite experiment and other forays into science, Benjamin Franklin advances knowledge of electricity, inspiring his English friend Joseph Priestley to do the same.

Explains what is meant by horsepower, where the term originated, and demonstrates how to use the formulas for calculating the horsepower of a car and an electric motor. Conversion formulas are also provided. Includes interactive...

Described is a simple low cost home-made device that converts the radio wave energy from a mobile phone signal into electricity to light an LED. No battery or complex circuitry is required. The device can form the basis of a range of...

The Industrial Revolution is in full force, Gramme invents his dynamo and James Clerk Maxwell formulates his series of equations on electrodynamics.

New tools such as special microscopes and the cyclotron take research to higher levels, while average citizens enjoy novel amenities such as the FM radio.

Soldering requires more skill than it looks. As with a lot of practical skills one learns a lot by trail, error and experience. Some tips are discussed here. These notes were written before regulations were introduced requiring solder to...

Scientists discover and probe x-rays and radioactivity, while inventors compete to build the first radio.

A discovery by Hans Christian Orsted forever changed the way scientists think about electricity and magnetism. While preparing to perform an experiment during a lecture at the University of Copenhagen, he found that the magnetized needle...

James Prescott Joule experimented with engines, electricity and heat throughout his life. Joule's findings resulted in his development of the mechanical theory of heat and Joule's law, which quantitatively describes the rate at which...

Humphry Davy was a pioneer in the field of electrochemistry who used electrolysis to isolate many elements from the compounds in which they occur naturally. Electrolysis is the process by which an electrolyte is altered or decomposed via...

At the turn of the 19th century, scientists were beginning to gain a rudimentary understanding of electricity and magnetism, but they knew almost nothing about the relationship between the two. Baltic German physicist Heinrich Lenz took...