What Is Electricity?

ELECTRICITY :-

Electricity is a form of energy consisting of a flow of electrons. It is a basic part of environment which is actually a secondary energy source made from the conversion of other sources of energy such as coal, natural gas, oil or nuclear power and other sours. Water is a frequent source of generating electricity via use of mechanisms to harness the power of free flowing water such as water falls or rivers.

Obviously any mention of the history of electricity would include lightening. Lightening is a large discharge of electricity which has been created during thunderstorms. Cumulonimbus clouds become charged with electricity, not unlike when you become charged with electricity when you drag your feet across a carpet. Similar to when you touch an uncharged object and release a "shock," so a cloud does when it reaches near enough to something to release the stored static energy.

Generating electricity is typically accomplished by elctro-mechanical generators driving by an alternate fuel source such as steam, fossil fuel, heat from nuclear power or kinetic energy derived from water or wind.

Because electricity can not be easily stored in large quantities to meet demands on national scales, what is needed at specific points must be exactly provided. This requires power companies to pay close attention to peaks and valleys in usage of areas they service. Too much power when it is not needed is then waster and too little causes an entirely different set of issues such as black outs or brown outs which can result in delicate equipment damage

ELECTRIC WIRIRNG :-

Electric wiring is a means by which a consumer of electric energy can operate his items of electrical equipment as and when he wishes. The wiring extends from the consumer's terminals, where it is connected to the electricity supply mains, to the various outlet points such as ceiling roses and wall sockets. The term fixed wiring is often used to distinguish the wiring serving the fixed outlet points from flexible wiring such as that attached to appliances, familiarly known as leads.

Wiring comprises cables together with associated apparatus for control and protection. Cables consist of conductors, insulation and sometimes mechanical protection. The purpose of a conductor is to carry the current, and it is therefore constructed of a material offering little resistance to the flow of electric current, such as copper or aluminum. The conductor is generally in the form of either a single wire or of a group of wires (known as strands) in contact with each other.

The function of insulation is to prevent the current from leaking away from the conductor at places where it is not required to flow. Thus, a material which offers an extremely high resistance to the flow of current is used for the insulation, such as polyvinyl chloride (p.v.c.) or magnesia (mineral).

Mechanical protection may take the form of an integral overall sheath of insulating material or metal, or the cable may be enclosed within a conduit, trunking or duct. Two or more insulated conductors included within a cable and provided with mechanical protection are each described as a core.

The form of protection used largely determines what is described as the system of wiring. Typical systems of wiring include p.v.c-insulated p.v.c.-sheathed cables, insulated cables within conduits (either metallic or nonmetallic), and mineral-insulated metal-sheathed cables.

Systems of wiring should not be confused with methods of wiring, such as the looping-in method employed when wiring is within conduits, and the joint box method applicable to sheathed wiring.

What are the Wiring Regulations?

The I.E.E. Wiring Regulations, or more correctly the Regulations for the Electrical Equipment of Buildings, are principally concerned with the safety of electric wiring and electrical installations generally. They are recognised as a U.K. national code in this respect. The Wiring Regulations Committee of the Institution of Electrical Engineers frames the Regulations and amends them from time to time as necessary in the light of new developments. The Institution also publishes a Guide to the I.E.E. Wiring Regulations which aims to point out some of the reasoning behind the Regulations and their implications in day-to-day terms.

The Regulations relate mainly to requirements for installation, testing and maintenance of consumers' wiring and equipment, but certain requirements for the construction of electrical equipment are included, mainly in the form of references to British Standards. For guidance on good practice in certain aspects of electrical installations beyond the scope of the I.E.E. Regulations, reference can be made to the British Standard Codes of Practice issued by the British Standards Institution.