Chapter 18 Section 3

 Identify how a n electric field can make

an electric current

Explain how electromagnetic induction

is used in a generator

Compare step-up and step-down

transformers
 Oersted found that an electric field
produces a magnetic field

Two scientists: Henry & Faraday

• Discovered that a magnetic field can make
an electric current
 A battery supplied the electric current
to the wire, making an electromagnet
 One wire was wrapped around one half
of an iron ring
A 2nd wire was wound around the other
half of the iron ring
A galvanometer measured any current
produced in the 2nd wire by the magnetic
field
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/electricity/images/inductance/faraday.j
pg
Faraday noticed that the instant he
connected the wires to the battery to
pointer moved.
The pointer moved again when he
disconnected the battery.
As long as the battery was
connected, the galvanometer
measured no electrical current.
Faraday realized that the electrical
current in the 2nd wire was made only
when the magnetic field was
changing

Electromagnetic induction: the

process by which an electric current
is made by changing a magnetic field
 EC is induced when you move a magnet
through a coil of wire
 Greater EC is induced if you move the
magnet fast through the coil
 Greater EC is induced if you add more
loops to the wire
 Induced EC reverses direction if the
magnet is pulled out rather than pushed in
http://www.hk-phy.org/energy/domestic/cook_phy/images/em_induction.gif
 An electric current is induced only
when wire crosses the magnetic field
lines

Magnetic force can cause electric

charges to move

This occurs only when the wire

moves through the magnetic field
http://www.skoool.co.za/studynotes/science/uploadedImages/Coord12.20_motor_effect.gif
 A device that converts mechanical
energy to electrical energy

Parts of a simple generator:

• Coil of wire
• Slip rings
• Brushes
• Permanent magnet

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/radio/img/fig59.jpg
1. Crank is turned, rotating coil crosses
magnetic field lines, EC is induced in
the wire
2. When coil does not cross field lines,
no EC is induced
3. As coil continues to rotate, magnetic
field lines are crossed in a different
direction, EC is induced in opposite
direction
http://members.shaw.ca/len92/acdc_inside_generator.gif
EC produced by the generator
changes direction each time the coil
makes a ½ turn

It is an alternating current

Inlarge generators in power plants,

the magnet is turned instead of the
coils
The energy that generators convert
into electrical energy comes from
different sources:

Nuclear reactions
Burning coal or gas
Wind
Water…
A device that increases or decreases
the voltage of alternating current

2 coils of wire wrapped around an

iron ring

The changing magnetic field in the

iron ring induces a current in the
secondary coil
http://www.windows2universe.org/physical_science/physics/electricity/images/transformer_diagram_big.gif
The number of loops in the primary and
secondary coils determines whether it
increases or decreases the voltage

Step-Up: increases voltage & decreases

current

Step-Down: decreases voltage &

increases current
http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/transformers/stepup.gif
http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/transformers/stepdown.gif
Usually is transformed 3 times

Atthe power plants (v is increased,

because energy is lost when carried
over long distances)

2 step-down transformers are used

before the EC reaches your house
http://maryland.sierraclub.org/uploads/transmission%20line.bmp
Name 2 ways a magnet can induce
an electric current in a wire

Describe the differences between a

step-up transformer and a step-down
transformer