Generating Electricity

This is where coal, oil and gases are burnt

Uranium or platonium are used as fuels in a nuclear power station in a process called binary fission

Renewable energy sources, like wind, water, tidal, solar etc. will never run out

Wind power:

• Consists of an electricity generator at the top of a narrow tower
• The force of the wind drives the turbine's blades around
• The power generates increases as the wind speed increases

Wave power:

• The waves move a floating generator up and down
• This motion turns the generator so it generates electricity
• A cable between the generator and the shore delivers the energy

Tidal power:

• Traps water from each high tide behind a barrage
• The water is then released into the sea through turbines
• The turbines drive generators in the barrage

Solar power:

• Convert less than 10 % of what they absob into power
• The sunlight heats water that flows directly through the tower
• Very expensive but costs nothing to run

Geothermal power:

• Energy is released by radioactive substances below the Earth
• Water is pumped down to produce steam
• The steam produced drives electricity turbines at ground level

The National Grid: The network of cables that cover the whole of Britain, that delivers electricity to homes everywhere:

• Power can be generated anywhere and transported anywhere
• To transport a large amount of power, you either need a high voltage or a high current
• With a high current, a lot of energy is lost through heat when the energy is being transported
• It's much cheaper to up the voltage and keep the voltage low

Without transformers:

• Bulb (House) A is much brighter than Bulb (House) 
• Most of the energy is used up transporting the power from the station to Bulb B

Power = Voltage x Current

• If we decrease the current, we must increase the voltage
• We can use a step up/down transformer to help with this
• The step up transformer increases the voltage at one end, for efficient transfer
• The step down transformer decreases the voltage so it is at a safe, useable level to be delivered to the consumer
• Bulb (House) A and B have the same brightness