75 lines
3.0 KiB
QBasic
75 lines
3.0 KiB
QBasic
|
From P.Rocha@ucl-cs.UUCP Fri Jul 7 15:29:24 1989
|
|||
|
|
From: P.Rocha@ucl-cs.UUCP
|
|||
|
|
Subject: Electricity Basics
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
From: P.Rocha@uk.ac.ucl.cs
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I found this on 'The Institute', the IEEE news supplement to
|
|||
|
|
IEEE Spectrum (V13, N4, April 1989). It really made me revise
|
|||
|
|
my concepts of Electricity. I hope you will enjoy it !
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Paulo
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
+-----------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
|
Paulo Valverde de L. P. Rocha | JANET:procha@uk.ac.ucl.cs
|
|||
|
|
Department of Computer Science| BITNET:procha%uk.ac.ucl.cs@UKACRL
|
|||
|
|
University College London |Internet:procha%cs.ucl.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
|
|||
|
|
Gower Street | ARPANet:procha@cs.ucl.ac.uk
|
|||
|
|
London WC1E 6BT | UUCP:...!mcvax!ukc!ucl-cs!procha
|
|||
|
|
+-----------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PRIMER FOR HOMEOWNERS: THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
|
|||
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The most important thing to find out about the
|
|||
|
|
electrical system is whether it cointains enough "volts", which
|
|||
|
|
are little tiny pieces of electricity shaped like arrows so you
|
|||
|
|
can tell which direction they're moving ...
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The standard measurement for volts is "amps", also
|
|||
|
|
called "watts", which travel around in what is called a
|
|||
|
|
"circuit" .
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A typical circuit works as follows:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
At the electrical company, fuel oil is burned to set
|
|||
|
|
fire to a generator, which gives off electrical energy in the
|
|||
|
|
form of sparks, which are put into wires and sent to your home,
|
|||
|
|
where the electricity waits in the wall until you turn on your
|
|||
|
|
toaster, at which point it rushes through the wire abd into the
|
|||
|
|
English muffin and from there into your stomach, where it
|
|||
|
|
remains until a cool, dry day when you are walking down a hall
|
|||
|
|
scuffing your feet on a carpet and you go to open a door,
|
|||
|
|
causing the electricity to leap into the doorknob, where it
|
|||
|
|
remains forever, building up over time to tremendously high
|
|||
|
|
levels, which os why scientists are now concerned that some
|
|||
|
|
unscrupulous entity such as Libya or God forbid an adolescent
|
|||
|
|
male ever figures how to release this power, he could, using
|
|||
|
|
only the latent doorknob energy contained in a singleolder
|
|||
|
|
ranch-style home, vaporize Oregon.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
But your immediate concern, as a potential buyer, is
|
|||
|
|
making sure that the house has the right number of volts .
|
|||
|
|
Following is a chart depicting the most popular voltages
|
|||
|
|
currently available in the housing market:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
POPULAR HOME VOLTAGES
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
120
|
|||
|
|
220
|
|||
|
|
9*
|
|||
|
|
* Requires 9-volt battery
|
|||
|
|
(not included)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Which voltage is right for you? This, more than
|
|||
|
|
anything else, is a matter of taste; and like most matters of
|
|||
|
|
personal taste, it is best left in the hands of a qualified
|
|||
|
|
interior designer.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
(Primary source of text: "Homes and Other Black Holes", by Dave
|
|||
|
|
Barry and Jeff MacNelly, Random House, New York, 1988)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|