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83-457: The west side of the fjord is defined by the Herøya peninsula at the mouth of Telemarksvassdraget . Herøya features a large industrial park that was founded in 1928 . It contains major facilities of Norsk Hydro , Yara , and REC (ScanWafer subsidiary). The east side of the fjord belongs to Skrapeklev , a residential area in the town of Porsgrunn . The fjord's mouth lies on the north end of

166-455: A conductor 's surface, since otherwise there would be a force along the surface of the conductor that would move the charge carriers to even the potential across the surface. The electric field was formally defined as the force exerted per unit charge, but the concept of potential allows for a more useful and equivalent definition: the electric field is the local gradient of the electric potential. Usually expressed in volts per metre,

249-461: A force on each other, an effect that was known, though not understood, in antiquity. A lightweight ball suspended by a fine thread can be charged by touching it with a glass rod that has itself been charged by rubbing with a cloth. If a similar ball is charged by the same glass rod, it is found to repel the first: the charge acts to force the two balls apart. Two balls that are charged with a rubbed amber rod also repel each other. However, if one ball

332-409: A steady state current, but instead blocks it. The inductor is a conductor, usually a coil of wire, that stores energy in a magnetic field in response to the current through it. When the current changes, the magnetic field does too, inducing a voltage between the ends of the conductor. The induced voltage is proportional to the time rate of change of the current. The constant of proportionality

415-456: A central role in many modern technologies, serving in electric power where electric current is used to energise equipment, and in electronics dealing with electrical circuits involving active components such as vacuum tubes , transistors , diodes and integrated circuits , and associated passive interconnection technologies. The study of electrical phenomena dates back to antiquity, with theoretical understanding progressing slowly until

498-432: A charge of Q coulombs every t seconds passing through an electric potential ( voltage ) difference of V is where Electric power is generally supplied to businesses and homes by the electric power industry . Electricity is usually sold by the kilowatt hour (3.6 MJ) which is the product of power in kilowatts multiplied by running time in hours. Electric utilities measure power using electricity meters , which keep

581-516: A common reference point to which potentials may be expressed and compared is useful. While this could be at infinity, a much more useful reference is the Earth itself, which is assumed to be at the same potential everywhere. This reference point naturally takes the name earth or ground . Earth is assumed to be an infinite source of equal amounts of positive and negative charge and is therefore electrically uncharged—and unchargeable. Electric potential

664-472: A current of one amp. The capacitor is a development of the Leyden jar and is a device that can store charge, and thereby storing electrical energy in the resulting field. It consists of two conducting plates separated by a thin insulating dielectric layer; in practice, thin metal foils are coiled together, increasing the surface area per unit volume and therefore the capacitance . The unit of capacitance

747-494: A dampened kite string and flown the kite in a storm-threatened sky . A succession of sparks jumping from the key to the back of his hand showed that lightning was indeed electrical in nature. He also explained the apparently paradoxical behavior of the Leyden jar as a device for storing large amounts of electrical charge in terms of electricity consisting of both positive and negative charges. In 1775, Hugh Williamson reported

830-425: A large lightning cloud may be as high as 100 MV and have discharge energies as great as 250 kWh. The field strength is greatly affected by nearby conducting objects, and it is particularly intense when it is forced to curve around sharply pointed objects. This principle is exploited in the lightning conductor , the sharp spike of which acts to encourage the lightning strike to develop there, rather than to

913-402: A millimetre per second, the electric field that drives them itself propagates at close to the speed of light , enabling electrical signals to pass rapidly along wires. Current causes several observable effects, which historically were the means of recognising its presence. That water could be decomposed by the current from a voltaic pile was discovered by Nicholson and Carlisle in 1800,

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996-553: A more reliable source of electrical energy than the electrostatic machines previously used. The recognition of electromagnetism , the unity of electric and magnetic phenomena, is due to Hans Christian Ørsted and André-Marie Ampère in 1819–1820. Michael Faraday invented the electric motor in 1821, and Georg Ohm mathematically analysed the electrical circuit in 1827. Electricity and magnetism (and light) were definitively linked by James Clerk Maxwell , in particular in his " On Physical Lines of Force " in 1861 and 1862. While

1079-425: A positive current is defined as having the same direction of flow as any positive charge it contains, or to flow from the most positive part of a circuit to the most negative part. Current defined in this manner is called conventional current . The motion of negatively charged electrons around an electric circuit , one of the most familiar forms of current, is thus deemed positive in the opposite direction to that of

1162-420: A positive or negative electric charge produces an electric field . The motion of electric charges is an electric current and produces a magnetic field . In most applications, Coulomb's law determines the force acting on an electric charge. Electric potential is the work done to move an electric charge from one point to another within an electric field, typically measured in volts . Electricity plays

1245-891: A practical generator, but it showed the possibility of generating electric power using magnetism, a possibility that would be taken up by those that followed on from his work. An electric circuit is an interconnection of electric components such that electric charge is made to flow along a closed path (a circuit), usually to perform some useful task. The components in an electric circuit can take many forms, which can include elements such as resistors , capacitors , switches , transformers and electronics . Electronic circuits contain active components , usually semiconductors , and typically exhibit non-linear behaviour, requiring complex analysis. The simplest electric components are those that are termed passive and linear : while they may temporarily store energy, they contain no sources of it, and exhibit linear responses to stimuli. The resistor

1328-406: A process now known as electrolysis . Their work was greatly expanded upon by Michael Faraday in 1833. Current through a resistance causes localised heating, an effect James Prescott Joule studied mathematically in 1840. One of the most important discoveries relating to current was made accidentally by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1820, when, while preparing a lecture, he witnessed the current in

1411-471: A rapidly changing one. Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit . The SI unit of power is the watt , one joule per second . Electric power, like mechanical power , is the rate of doing work , measured in watts , and represented by the letter P . The term wattage is used colloquially to mean "electric power in watts." The electric power in watts produced by an electric current I consisting of

1494-489: A resistance is directly proportional to the potential difference across it. The resistance of most materials is relatively constant over a range of temperatures and currents; materials under these conditions are known as 'ohmic'. The ohm , the unit of resistance, was named in honour of Georg Ohm , and is symbolised by the Greek letter Ω. 1 Ω is the resistance that will produce a potential difference of one volt in response to

1577-595: A running total of the electric energy delivered to a customer. Unlike fossil fuels , electricity is a low entropy form of energy and can be converted into motion or many other forms of energy with high efficiency. Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes , transistors , diodes , sensors and integrated circuits , and associated passive interconnection technologies. The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron flows makes digital switching possible, and electronics

1660-431: A scientific curiosity into an essential tool for modern life. In 1887, Heinrich Hertz discovered that electrodes illuminated with ultraviolet light create electric sparks more easily. In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper that explained experimental data from the photoelectric effect as being the result of light energy being carried in discrete quantized packets, energising electrons. This discovery led to

1743-575: A series of experiments to the Royal Society on the shocks delivered by the electric eel ; that same year the surgeon and anatomist John Hunter described the structure of the fish's electric organs . In 1791, Luigi Galvani published his discovery of bioelectromagnetics , demonstrating that electricity was the medium by which neurons passed signals to the muscles. Alessandro Volta 's battery, or voltaic pile , of 1800, made from alternating layers of zinc and copper, provided scientists with

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1826-515: A series of observations on static electricity around 600 BCE, from which he believed that friction rendered amber magnetic , in contrast to minerals such as magnetite , which needed no rubbing. Thales was incorrect in believing the attraction was due to a magnetic effect, but later science would prove a link between magnetism and electricity. According to a controversial theory, the Parthians may have had knowledge of electroplating , based on

1909-707: A shipping port for Norwegian saltpeter (calcium nitrate) were built. In the process, the narrow sound between the island and the mainland was mostly filled up, thus transforming the island to a peninsula. The reason Hydro wanted to establish itself in the Grenland region was the proximity to limestone , one of the necessary components in the fertilizer, Calcium nitrate. Norsk Hydro had previously had to build its fertilizer plants in Notodden (in 1907 ) and Rjukan (in 1909 ) because technology at that time didn't allow for efficient transport of electricity long distances from

1992-580: A significant amount of fish (both freshwater and saltwater species). This article about a fjord in Norway is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Telemark location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Her%C3%B8ya Herøya is a peninsula in Porsgrunn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway . It is located between

2075-477: A solid crystal (such as a germanium crystal) to detect a radio signal by the contact junction effect. In a solid-state component, the current is confined to solid elements and compounds engineered specifically to switch and amplify it. Current flow can be understood in two forms: as negatively charged electrons , and as positively charged electron deficiencies called holes . These charges and holes are understood in terms of quantum physics. The building material

2158-511: A wire disturbing the needle of a magnetic compass. He had discovered electromagnetism , a fundamental interaction between electricity and magnetics. The level of electromagnetic emissions generated by electric arcing is high enough to produce electromagnetic interference , which can be detrimental to the workings of adjacent equipment. In engineering or household applications, current is often described as being either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). These terms refer to how

2241-448: A wire suspended from a pivot above the magnet and dipped into the mercury. The magnet exerted a tangential force on the wire, making it circle around the magnet for as long as the current was maintained. Experimentation by Faraday in 1831 revealed that a wire moving perpendicular to a magnetic field developed a potential difference between its ends. Further analysis of this process, known as electromagnetic induction , enabled him to state

2324-402: A wire. The informal term static electricity refers to the net presence (or 'imbalance') of charge on a body, usually caused when dissimilar materials are rubbed together, transferring charge from one to the other. Charge can be measured by a number of means, an early instrument being the gold-leaf electroscope , which although still in use for classroom demonstrations, has been superseded by

2407-584: Is a scalar quantity . That is, it has only magnitude and not direction. It may be viewed as analogous to height : just as a released object will fall through a difference in heights caused by a gravitational field, so a charge will 'fall' across the voltage caused by an electric field. As relief maps show contour lines marking points of equal height, a set of lines marking points of equal potential (known as equipotentials ) may be drawn around an electrostatically charged object. The equipotentials cross all lines of force at right angles. They must also lie parallel to

2490-411: Is a vector field . The study of electric fields created by stationary charges is called electrostatics . The field may be visualised by a set of imaginary lines whose direction at any point is the same as that of the field. This concept was introduced by Faraday, whose term ' lines of force ' still sometimes sees use. The field lines are the paths that a point positive charge would seek to make as it

2573-487: Is also considered part of Herøya as a suburb of the city of Porsgrunn . Herøya also has a local football club, participating in the Norwegian 5th division. The club stadium, Herøya Stadion, has a capacity in surplus of 2000. Originally an island that was used for agriculture , in 1928 Norsk Hydro decided to locate a new artificial fertilizer factory there, Hydro Porsgrunn , and in just 16 months both this factory and

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2656-452: Is an important difference. Gravity always acts in attraction, drawing two masses together, while the electric field can result in either attraction or repulsion. Since large bodies such as planets generally carry no net charge, the electric field at a distance is usually zero. Thus gravity is the dominant force at distance in the universe, despite being much weaker. An electric field generally varies in space, and its strength at any one point

2739-401: Is charged by the glass rod, and the other by an amber rod, the two balls are found to attract each other. These phenomena were investigated in the late eighteenth century by Charles-Augustin de Coulomb , who deduced that charge manifests itself in two opposing forms. This discovery led to the well-known axiom: like-charged objects repel and opposite-charged objects attract . The force acts on

2822-473: Is defined as negative, and that by protons is positive. Before these particles were discovered, Benjamin Franklin had defined a positive charge as being the charge acquired by a glass rod when it is rubbed with a silk cloth. A proton by definition carries a charge of exactly 1.602 176 634 × 10  coulombs . This value is also defined as the elementary charge . No object can have a charge smaller than

2905-483: Is defined as the force (per unit charge) that would be felt by a stationary, negligible charge if placed at that point. The conceptual charge, termed a ' test charge ', must be vanishingly small to prevent its own electric field disturbing the main field and must also be stationary to prevent the effect of magnetic fields . As the electric field is defined in terms of force , and force is a vector , having both magnitude and direction , it follows that an electric field

2988-531: Is integral to applications spanning transport , heating , lighting , communications , and computation , making it the foundation of modern industrial society. Long before any knowledge of electricity existed, people were aware of shocks from electric fish . Ancient Egyptian texts dating from 2750 BCE described them as the "protectors" of all other fish. Electric fish were again reported millennia later by ancient Greek , Roman and Arabic naturalists and physicians . Several ancient writers, such as Pliny

3071-406: Is mediated by the magnetic field each current produces and forms the basis for the international definition of the ampere . This relationship between magnetic fields and currents is extremely important, for it led to Michael Faraday's invention of the electric motor in 1821. Faraday's homopolar motor consisted of a permanent magnet sitting in a pool of mercury . A current was allowed through

3154-415: Is most often a crystalline semiconductor . Solid-state electronics came into its own with the emergence of transistor technology. The first working transistor, a germanium -based point-contact transistor , was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain at Bell Labs in 1947, followed by the bipolar junction transistor in 1948. By modern convention, the charge carried by electrons

3237-403: Is perhaps the simplest of passive circuit elements: as its name suggests, it resists the current through it, dissipating its energy as heat. The resistance is a consequence of the motion of charge through a conductor: in metals, for example, resistance is primarily due to collisions between electrons and ions. Ohm's law is a basic law of circuit theory , stating that the current passing through

3320-531: Is subjected to transients , such as when first energised. The concept of the electric field was introduced by Michael Faraday . An electric field is created by a charged body in the space that surrounds it, and results in a force exerted on any other charges placed within the field. The electric field acts between two charges in a similar manner to the way that the gravitational field acts between two masses , and like it, extends towards infinity and shows an inverse square relationship with distance. However, there

3403-406: Is termed the inductance . The unit of inductance is the henry , named after Joseph Henry , a contemporary of Faraday. One henry is the inductance that will induce a potential difference of one volt if the current through it changes at a rate of one ampere per second. The inductor's behaviour is in some regards converse to that of the capacitor: it will freely allow an unchanging current, but opposes

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3486-415: Is the farad , named after Michael Faraday , and given the symbol F : one farad is the capacitance that develops a potential difference of one volt when it stores a charge of one coulomb. A capacitor connected to a voltage supply initially causes a current as it accumulates charge; this current will however decay in time as the capacitor fills, eventually falling to zero. A capacitor will therefore not permit

3569-430: Is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge . Electricity is related to magnetism , both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism , as described by Maxwell's equations . Common phenomena are related to electricity, including lightning , static electricity , electric heating , electric discharges and many others. The presence of either

3652-529: Is therefore 0 at all places inside the body. This is the operating principal of the Faraday cage , a conducting metal shell which isolates its interior from outside electrical effects. The principles of electrostatics are important when designing items of high-voltage equipment. There is a finite limit to the electric field strength that may be withstood by any medium. Beyond this point, electrical breakdown occurs and an electric arc causes flashover between

3735-409: Is usually measured in volts , and one volt is the potential for which one joule of work must be expended to bring a charge of one coulomb from infinity. This definition of potential, while formal, has little practical application, and a more useful concept is that of electric potential difference , and is the energy required to move a unit charge between two specified points. An electric field has

3818-536: Is widely used in information processing , telecommunications , and signal processing . Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards , electronics packaging technology, and other varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the mixed components into a regular working system . Today, most electronic devices use semiconductor components to perform electron control. The underlying principles that explain how semiconductors work are studied in solid state physics , whereas

3901-721: The Neo-Latin word electricus ("of amber" or "like amber", from ἤλεκτρον, elektron , the Greek word for "amber") to refer to the property of attracting small objects after being rubbed. This association gave rise to the English words "electric" and "electricity", which made their first appearance in print in Thomas Browne 's Pseudodoxia Epidemica of 1646. Isaac Newton made early investigations into electricity, with an idea of his written down in his book Opticks arguably

3984-423: The electromagnetic force , one of the four fundamental forces of nature. Experiment has shown charge to be a conserved quantity , that is, the net charge within an electrically isolated system will always remain constant regardless of any changes taking place within that system. Within the system, charge may be transferred between bodies, either by direct contact, or by passing along a conducting material, such as

4067-591: The power plants to the place of use. But in the 1920s technology had developed and it was possible to locate the plants close to the natural resources instead of close to the hydro electric power plants , that were located in the mountains in Northern Telemark . Another important function was the establishment of a port for the export of fertilizer from Norsk Hydro's plants in Telemark. The Telemark Canal had been used for transport from Notodden from

4150-522: The quantum revolution. Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for "his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". The photoelectric effect is also employed in photocells such as can be found in solar panels . The first solid-state device was the " cat's-whisker detector " first used in the 1900s in radio receivers. A whisker-like wire is placed lightly in contact with

4233-452: The strong interaction , but unlike that force it operates over all distances. In comparison with the much weaker gravitational force , the electromagnetic force pushing two electrons apart is 10 times that of the gravitational attraction pulling them together. Charge originates from certain types of subatomic particles , the most familiar carriers of which are the electron and proton . Electric charge gives rise to and interacts with

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4316-541: The 17th and 18th centuries. The development of the theory of electromagnetism in the 19th century marked significant progress, leading to electricity's industrial and residential application by electrical engineers by the century's end. This rapid expansion in electrical technology at the time was the driving force behind the Second Industrial Revolution , with electricity's versatility driving transformations in both industry and society. Electricity

4399-545: The 1936 discovery of the Baghdad Battery , which resembles a galvanic cell , though it is uncertain whether the artifact was electrical in nature. Electricity would remain little more than an intellectual curiosity for millennia until 1600, when the English scientist William Gilbert wrote De Magnete , in which he made a careful study of electricity and magnetism, distinguishing the lodestone effect from static electricity produced by rubbing amber. He coined

4482-507: The 1950s, Hydro would take up these plans and build a magnesium factory, which was rebuilt in 2002 to a metal recycling facility. In the reminiscing book UT. Fra en oppvekst i forrige århundre by historian Harald Berntsen , portrayals are given of incidents and milieus in Herøya, from the time when his family moved there in 1951 (from downtown Porsgrunn), just before he was to begin school, and until 1960. The book explains among other things

4565-656: The Elder and Scribonius Largus , attested to the numbing effect of electric shocks delivered by electric catfish and electric rays , and knew that such shocks could travel along conducting objects. Patients with ailments such as gout or headache were directed to touch electric fish in the hope that the powerful jolt might cure them. Ancient cultures around the Mediterranean knew that certain objects, such as rods of amber , could be rubbed with cat's fur to attract light objects like feathers. Thales of Miletus made

4648-570: The German occupying force had plans to build aluminium and magnesium plants in Herøya. The construction of the plant by Norsk Hydro in partnership with the Luftwaffe -operated Nordische Aluminium Aktiengesellschaft (Nordag) was however ended on 24 July 1943, when a bombardment by American B-17 Flying Fortresses completely destroyed the facilities as well as hitting parts of the surrounding areas, killing 55 people, including civilians. Later, in

4731-408: The beginning of the field theory of the electric force. Further work was conducted in the 17th and early 18th centuries by Otto von Guericke , Robert Boyle , Stephen Gray and C. F. du Fay . Later in the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin conducted extensive research in electricity, selling his possessions to fund his work. In June 1752 he is reputed to have attached a metal key to the bottom of

4814-419: The building it serves to protect. The concept of electric potential is closely linked to that of the electric field. A small charge placed within an electric field experiences a force, and to have brought that charge to that point against the force requires work . The electric potential at any point is defined as the energy required to bring a unit test charge from an infinite distance slowly to that point. It

4897-426: The charged particles themselves, hence charge has a tendency to spread itself as evenly as possible over a conducting surface. The magnitude of the electromagnetic force, whether attractive or repulsive, is given by Coulomb's law , which relates the force to the product of the charges and has an inverse-square relation to the distance between them. The electromagnetic force is very strong, second only in strength to

4980-450: The charged parts. Air, for example, tends to arc across small gaps at electric field strengths which exceed 30 kV per centimetre. Over larger gaps, its breakdown strength is weaker, perhaps 1 kV per centimetre. The most visible natural occurrence of this is lightning , caused when charge becomes separated in the clouds by rising columns of air, and raises the electric field in the air to greater than it can withstand. The voltage of

5063-579: The company is closing down its operations in Norway. The area is served by the Bratsberg Line . 2,700 people work on the 1.5 square kilometres (0.58 sq mi) peninsula that has about 30 companies, most of which are subsidiaries of Norsk Hydro, including Hydro's research park with 350 employees. A populated area south of the peninsula itself, which was initially housing for the Hydro employees,

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5146-411: The current varies in time. Direct current, as produced by example from a battery and required by most electronic devices, is a unidirectional flow from the positive part of a circuit to the negative. If, as is most common, this flow is carried by electrons, they will be travelling in the opposite direction. Alternating current is any current that reverses direction repeatedly; almost always this takes

5229-516: The design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems are part of electronics engineering . Faraday's and Ampère's work showed that a time-varying magnetic field created an electric field, and a time-varying electric field created a magnetic field. Thus, when either field is changing in time, a field of the other is always induced. These variations are an electromagnetic wave . Electromagnetic waves were analysed theoretically by James Clerk Maxwell in 1864. Maxwell developed

5312-478: The early 19th century had seen rapid progress in electrical science, the late 19th century would see the greatest progress in electrical engineering . Through such people as Alexander Graham Bell , Ottó Bláthy , Thomas Edison , Galileo Ferraris , Oliver Heaviside , Ányos Jedlik , William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin , Charles Algernon Parsons , Werner von Siemens , Joseph Swan , Reginald Fessenden , Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse , electricity turned from

5395-427: The effect was reciprocal: a current exerts a force on a magnet, and a magnetic field exerts a force on a current. The phenomenon was further investigated by Ampère , who discovered that two parallel current-carrying wires exerted a force upon each other: two wires conducting currents in the same direction are attracted to each other, while wires containing currents in opposite directions are forced apart. The interaction

5478-448: The electronic electrometer . The movement of electric charge is known as an electric current , the intensity of which is usually measured in amperes . Current can consist of any moving charged particles; most commonly these are electrons, but any charge in motion constitutes a current. Electric current can flow through some things, electrical conductors , but will not flow through an electrical insulator . By historical convention,

5561-416: The electrons. However, depending on the conditions, an electric current can consist of a flow of charged particles in either direction, or even in both directions at once. The positive-to-negative convention is widely used to simplify this situation. The process by which electric current passes through a material is termed electrical conduction , and its nature varies with that of the charged particles and

5644-428: The elementary charge, and any amount of charge an object may carry is a multiple of the elementary charge. An electron has an equal negative charge, i.e. −1.602 176 634 × 10  coulombs . Charge is possessed not just by matter , but also by antimatter , each antiparticle bearing an equal and opposite charge to its corresponding particle. The presence of charge gives rise to an electrostatic force: charges exert

5727-427: The enclosed Gunneklevfjord, glittering in the sun in all hues of pollution. On the left side of the fjord Hydro's factory buildings tower proudly, in particular the tallest round tower which day and night pumps out the thick, yellow smoke which always gives the wind strength and direction." (Berntsen, pp. 72) The barrack being described would soon be demolished to provide room for a community house. Up Torggata, to

5810-598: The fjord where the Porsgrunn River discharges into the Frierfjord at Norsk Hydro 's factory complex. The Skien River , which begins in Skien , is called the Porsgrunn River as it runs through Porsgrunn. Small watercraft traffic can also pass through a man-made canal at the south of the fjord. The fjord is heavily polluted due to the development of the industrial area at Herøya. The fjord has brackish water with

5893-486: The fjords of Frierfjord to the west and Gunnekleivfjord to the east, at the mouth of Porsgrunn River . The name stems from the Old Norse word "her-eyjar" meaning an island ( øya ) with a horde or army ( her ), thus "the crowded island". The peninsula features a large industrial park that was founded in 1928 and contains major facilities of Norsk Hydro , Yara . REC ( ScanWafer subsidiary) said in 2023 that

5976-495: The form of a sine wave . Alternating current thus pulses back and forth within a conductor without the charge moving any net distance over time. The time-averaged value of an alternating current is zero, but it delivers energy in first one direction, and then the reverse. Alternating current is affected by electrical properties that are not observed under steady state direct current, such as inductance and capacitance . These properties however can become important when circuitry

6059-400: The material through which they are travelling. Examples of electric currents include metallic conduction, where electrons flow through a conductor such as metal, and electrolysis , where ions (charged atoms ) flow through liquids, or through plasmas such as electrical sparks. While the particles themselves can move quite slowly, sometimes with an average drift velocity only fractions of

6142-428: The principle, now known as Faraday's law of induction , that the potential difference induced in a closed circuit is proportional to the rate of change of magnetic flux through the loop. Exploitation of this discovery enabled him to invent the first electrical generator in 1831, in which he converted the mechanical energy of a rotating copper disc to electrical energy. Faraday's disc was inefficient and of no use as

6225-470: The residence and down on the left, Torggata has recently been elevated and graveled , but not yet asphalted . On the other side of the street, the Germans have left a long two-storey barrack ... On both sides of Torggata down on the left, endless open yards with grass and weeds, thistles and nettles. The yards end in a fertile belt of tall, wavering rushes with a forest of brown cigars on the top, in front of

6308-516: The right and into the forest, one would arrive at the beach of the Frierfjord where boats lay waiting outside Hydro, "and where we could make out the contours of Herre and the cellulose plant from which the fart -like Herre smell would come." The workers lived, among other places, on the eastside of Kirkehaugen in "owned homes". The engineers lived in the "'engineer town' consisting of villas with spacious gardens having been situated facing

6391-454: The special property that it is conservative , which means that the path taken by the test charge is irrelevant: all paths between two specified points expend the same energy, and thus a unique value for potential difference may be stated. The volt is so strongly identified as the unit of choice for measurement and description of electric potential difference that the term voltage sees greater everyday usage. For practical purposes, defining

6474-537: The start of operations there, while a railway, Rjukanbanen , had been built to the plant in Rjukan to Notodden. In 1916 this railway was extended as the Bratsberg Line to Skien , and then to Herøya when it opened, replacing the need for the canal . Since then there has been opened other plants at Herøya, including a production plant for PVC (in 1951 ). Following the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany in April 1940

6557-556: The still idyllic Frierfjord, closest to the factories, when Hydro's plant on Herøya grew from 1928 on. Or they would occupy the row of Hydro's more elegant one-family houses for engineers at Bakkedammen and, in a few cases, the grand workers' villas in Adriansåsen, the hill atop Herøya. Or increasingly in Hefalia, which lay on the opposite side of the factories, between Herøya and Porsgrunn." Electricity Electricity

6640-418: The two forces of nature then known. The force on the compass needle did not direct it to or away from the current-carrying wire, but acted at right angles to it. Ørsted's words were that "the electric conflict acts in a revolving manner." The force also depended on the direction of the current, for if the flow was reversed, then the force did too. Ørsted did not fully understand his discovery, but he observed

6723-417: The vector direction of the field is the line of greatest slope of potential, and where the equipotentials lie closest together. Ørsted's discovery in 1821 that a magnetic field existed around all sides of a wire carrying an electric current indicated that there was a direct relationship between electricity and magnetism. Moreover, the interaction seemed different from gravitational and electrostatic forces,

6806-535: The way in which the different residential areas in Herøya were related to status and hierarchy in the Hydro community. Berntsen's family lived in a flat on Torggata, on the peninsula proper, to the west of the Gunneklevfjord, in a recently built 4-flat house which the father had been given by Hydro. "On both sides of Torggata up on the right, one 'owned home' after the other, within well-groomed gardens fenced in with chain link fences and gates ... In front of

6889-543: Was forced to move within the field; they are however an imaginary concept with no physical existence, and the field permeates all the intervening space between the lines. Field lines emanating from stationary charges have several key properties: first, that they originate at positive charges and terminate at negative charges; second, that they must enter any good conductor at right angles, and third, that they may never cross nor close in on themselves. A hollow conducting body carries all its charge on its outer surface. The field

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