How to Colonize an Asteroid
What is "Basic
Electricity"?
As in other parts of this web, I will not delve too deeply into basic electronics, but there are many texts commonly available on the subject. Electronics is my personal field of expertise (see my resume), and it has been primarily through this field that I have been exposed to the great variety of subjects in the fields of science, for electronics touches all facets of our life. Think about it for a moment if you will... You probably wake up in the morning to your electric clock radio - take a shower heated with water from an electric water heater, or from a gas heater controlled by electricity - you turn on the radio - fire up the automatic electric coffee pot - for some the boob tube goes on (or is still on from the previous evening) - maybe some of the men shave with an electric razor (ok - some of the women too) - throw your toast into the electric toaster - cook breakfast in the microwave - draw on the electricity stored in a battery to start your car - and the day is just starting! For how many things do you rely on electricity?
To many people, the world of electronics is magic, but some one once said that "magic is science which you don't yet understand". Ok, lets shatter the magic and see how simple the science of electronics really is;
Electronics is the study and control of electons flowing through conductors. Nothing more.
Electrons are the negatively charged part of atoms. The science of chemistry tells us that certain forms of atoms and molecules have extra electrons in their structure. These molecules are called "ions", and it is a realatively simple matter to strip away these excess electrons and force them through a wire, or "conductor".
© 1998, Robert Lyon Richards