The railroad track steers the train and does a few other things that we'll talk about later. Because many trains operate on the same track, switches and signals control the traffic. Let's break it down. The job of the locomotive is to change the chemical energy from the fuel (wood, ...
effects, many people fail to understand exactly what electricity is -- a ubiquitous form of energy resulting from the motion of charged particles, like electrons. When put to the question, even acclaimed inventorThomas Edisonmerely defined it as "a mode of motion" and "a system of vibrations....
This diagram shows the basic parts and design of a circuit breaker. HowStuffWorks The power distribution grid delivers electricity from a power plant to your house. Inside your house, the electric charge moves in a large circuit, which is composed of many smaller circuits. One end of the cir...
When your lights go out, or appliances in the room suddenly stop working, it’s easy to panic or worry that you've lost power completely. Luckily, most often it’s just that a breaker has tripped, and it only takes a few steps to reset a circuit and restore power to your appliances....
An overloaded circuit can be dangerous and is themost common circuit breaker problem. When you plug too many appliances into a single outlet, the electrical current can exceed the capacity of the circuit, causing it to trip. The flickering of lights, a buzzing sound from the breaker, and a...
Assuming the power stays on, it's time to find the cause of the problem. The two most common causes are a shorted device or too many things running at once, overloading the circuit. Here's how to find the problem: Check for a short by turning on each light. If the breaker stays ...
The bell rings, the guest releases the button, the circuit opens and the doorbell stops its infernal ringing. This on-demand magnetism is what makes the electromagnet so useful. Key Figures in the History of Electromagnets The field of electromagnetism attracted many brilliant minds over the ...
The engine drives a generator that provides 480-volt, 3-phase AC power for the rest of the train. Many HEPs provide over 500 kilowatts of electrical power to the rest of the train, to be used by the electric air conditioners, lights and kitchen facilities. By using a completely separate...
When the battery is using too much of its own juice and depleting itself without getting refilled by the charging system, then these gauges or warning lights should alert you to the problem. While many of us strive to lower our blood pressure, we should never strive to have low oil ...
On the bright side, advances insmart home technologyhave helped mitigate the effects of power outages. Many systems now include backup power solutions and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to provide short-term energy to crucial components during a blackout. Some smart home hubs and controllers ...