Re:Why is electricity so hard to understand? (1989)
by maxerickson on Saturday March 06, 2021 @09:16AM
(#26367483)
Another good word for voltage is potential.
In a battery, the energy moves through the external circuit because the internals of the battery have been arranged so that an energy releasing chemical reaction is completed when that happens.
Voltage and power are related by current. Power = voltage x current.
The amount of current that flows through a circuit depends on the voltage potential and the properties of the circuit. Our bodies aren't particularly good circuits, so lower voltages won't push much current through a circuit that includes it. A car battery isn't a big electrocution risk, it is dangerous because it can release a lot of energy quickly (it has fairly high power). Somewhere around 50 volts, current does start to flow through our bodies, causing problems even at relatively low currents (and thus low power), heart disruption and such.
In a battery, the energy moves through the external circuit because the internals of the battery have been arranged so that an energy releasing chemical reaction is completed when that happens.
In an alternator, a conductor is moved through a magnetic field, which induces a current (this arises out of the properties of magnetic fields; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction ).
Voltage and power are related by current. Power = voltage x current.
The amount of current that flows through a circuit depends on the voltage potential and the properties of the circuit. Our bodies aren't particularly good circuits, so lower voltages won't push much current through a circuit that includes it. A car battery isn't a big electrocution risk, it is dangerous because it can release a lot of energy quickly (it has fairly high power). Somewhere around 50 volts, current does start to flow through our bodies, causing problems even at relatively low currents (and thus low power), heart disruption and such.