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21 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is an electric motor?
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A device that changes electrical energy into mechanical energy, or motion.
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What is mechanical energy?
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Motion
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What are some examples that things that electric motors can power?
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Tools, toys, machines.
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What does a simple electric motor have?
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A power source, a permanent magnet, a rotating loop of wire, and a motor shaft.
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What is a shaft? (motor shaft)
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A rod that can spin and move.
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How does a simple electric motor work?
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An electric current runs through the wire loop, making a magnetic field. The permanent magnet pushes and pulls on the wire loop. This causes the wire loop to spin. The wire loop then turns the motor shaft, which might turn a wheel or a gear.
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What is an electric generator?
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It turns motion into energy. It is the opposite of a motor, changing mechanical energy into electrical energy.
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What is a turbine?
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A simple one looks like an electric fan and provides the mechanical energy for a generator.
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How does a simple generator work>
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Mechanical energy turns the wire loop between two magnetic poles. The magnetic field produces and electric current in the wire. As the wire gets closer to the magnetic poles, electrical charges are pushed through the wire. The moving electrical charges make an electric current.
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What do simple generators and simple motors have in common?
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They have many of the same parts.
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What are some different sources of energy?
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Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Energy, Geothermal Energy, Hydropower, and Wind.
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What are fossil fuels?
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Oil, coal and natural gas (can be burned to heat water, producing steam).
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What is nuclear energy?
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Comes from nuclear power plants, where atoms are split that contain large amounts of energy.
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What is geothermal energy?
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Comes from an energy plant that uses the heat inside Earth to produce steam.
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What is hydropower?
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Where flowing water can turn turbines and created electrical energy.
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What is wind energy?
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A source of energy that can be changed into electrical energy using a generator.
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What kinds of electric current are there?q
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Alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC).
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What is an alternating current (AC)?
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Where there is a flow of a current from one direction to the opposite direction and the electrical charges continuously flow back and forth.
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What are some examples of things that use alternating current (AC)?
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Electrical wall outlets and most generators.
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What is a direct current (DC)?
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When the flow of a current is always in one direction. The current flows continuously without stopping or reversing direction.
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What is an example of something that uses a direct current (DC)?
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A battery and computers.
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