A Bright Idea

This weekend we had a party at my house and we were cleaning the house and getting ready. One of the light bulbs needed to be replaced so we went to the store and got 60 watt light bulbs. After we replaced the light bulb, we turned it on and it seemed like in an instant it was bright. What is actually happening is that there are electrons all along the circuit and in the light bulb. When I flipped the switch on, it made a complete circuit. This connects the two voltage differences, which is what forces the electrons through the circuit. At the instant there was an electric field, the electrons started moving through the light bulb and through the filament. The filament is what makes the light bulb light. The filament is made out of tungsten, which is the metal with the highest boiling point. A long piece of filament is coiled into a small area. As the electrons move through the filament, they bump into the atoms, which is resistance. This colliding between electrons and atoms cause heat energy. The heat energy is turned into light energy and a light bulb lights. This seemingly easy invention was actually a really bright idea.

outlets

Today after I went to karaoke with my family, I went to the bathroom to go take a shower. I pushed the power button but the radio didn't turn on. Then I realized that it wasn't plugged in and I felt like an idiot. So I plugged it in and realized that there was physics in the outlet. The average house outlet has 120 volts. Actually the difference in voltage between the two points of an outlet is 120 V. The outlet has three holes. Two of them make a complete circuit, which is why there is power when I plugged the radio in. The third hole is to keeps it grounded so that it doesn't short circuit. But it made me think of those caution signs. Like the ones on power plants and stuff that say danger high voltage. When I was little I used to think that it was super dangerous and that if i just touched it I would get shocked. But volts is actually a ratio of potential energy and charge. The more potential energy per coulomb, the more dangerous it is. But now I know better =] I never realized there could be so much physics in such an everyday household item like an outlet.