16C- Linemans Death- Jhonny E.

Editor,

Electricity is a field that is currently growing. But many parts of the field are incomplete and far from being perfected. The tragic accident of John Feeks, is a accident that I feel very sorry about and I wish it I could do something about it. But I am only human I can only pay my respects.

How can someone blame AC for this tragic accident when AC is doing so much for so many more people. AC is currently lighting so many homes around the USA, and I only see the positive aspects of my system. It is able to carry much more voltages over larger distances and serve more people. It is not my goal to hurt people, but to improve their lives by providing electricity to them.

George Westinghouse

16b – Edison Ethical Position – Jhonny E

Edison during the War of the Currents was doing everything in his power to make people believe that his form of electrity was not only superior, but also safer to use. Edison would use many method to show the consumers that his product was safer and would take it as far as killing many helpless animals and killing people as a form of capital punishment. I think that Edison was using unethical means for his own pride, killing Kemmler with the electric chair using AC, at a period were many didn’t understand the total capacity electricity would do on a body. Another reason why I believe that it was unethical is propably that I personally would never be able to kill another man, and less kill a man for my own need.

Brown – Jhonny E.

Harold Brown was a man that was known by very few before his article in the New York Evening Post. After posting his article called constant dangers from sudden death he would start to be recognized as a man with knowledge, and a supporter of Edison during the War of the Currents. Like Edison, Brown believed that high-voltage alternating current was dangerous and should be outlawed or at least regulated to a certain voltage. Westinghouse would question his knowledge in the field of electricity and Brown would respond showing a public killing of many animals to show that ac was actually dangerous. Edison and Brown both beleived in the safety aspect of electricity and taking it as far as killing animals to show their belief.

Memory – Jhonny E.

From what I can tell both delay line memory and dynamic random access memory both work in a similar matter, such that they both are refreshable memory. Refreshable memory is a process of periodic checking of new information from the memory and rewriting the  information without no modification. But the main difference between delay line memory and dynamic random access memory, and the reason why dynamic would be superior is that dynamic works with random access, and delay line works in a sequential access. Random access is the ability to access information in equal time apposed to sequential access where information would be accessed in order much like a tape. Where if you would want to listen to a song in a tape, you would have to pass many songs, and in a cd you can just skip songs like random access. Today DRAM is most commonly used in most computers and only having to compete with flash memory. During the tour we saw DRAM plates being stored in a clear box, where the box would go through various stations before it would be completed.

Micron Tour – Jhonny E.

I thought that the tour could of been better and that they could of shown us much more instead of a hall with about a dozen windows.  When we got there they showed us a powerpoint about the history of micron and everything that they do within the company, they showed us boxes that have have 20 and 30 cm plates. After the presentation they would walk us down a hall and show us i guess how the plates were being made. I think that the most interesting part of the trip was when i saw the crane come pick up the box and take it some where else. From what the man told us, the company is growing and more machines are being added and as a result their going to need more engineers in the future. Their gonna need engineers to work those machines and expand their company. As far as engineering fields, I think that electrical engineers are the most predominant part of the company. From what we saw in the tour,  I dont think that I would be able to work the machinery, but their may be other parts of the company that might be more suited for me. To be able to work in that company somebody would need to prepare themselfs in the engineering field, taking engineering based classes during college, and i also noticed that someone would need to study chemistry, because during the tour i heard a bunch of chemical and compounds being named, something i’m not familiar with.

How Transformers Work – Jhonny E.

Originally invented by Michael Faraday, the first transformer used two copper wires that interacted with each other. The “primary” wire created a magnetic filed while it was being fed an electric current. The “secondary” is a wire that intercepts the primary wire’s field of force. For both wires to work perfectly, they needed to be coupled correctly to create high self-induction. But many people at the time did not understand the potential for the transformer at the time. Transformers are a means of stepping down the voltage on a high supply of voltage. Mostly used in AC systems, Westinghouse would start to use the transformer so that he would be able to send rather high voltages over long distances and transformers would bring down the voltages so that they would be used in house-hold appliances and mostly light-bulbs. Westinghouse needed a new design for the transformer that could be more cheaply produced and after examining the Gaurlard-Gibbs generator, he would use the H shape plate inside, and wound the primary and secondary copper wires to produce and I shape plate and the first modern transformer.

Tesla Master of Lightning – Jhonny E.

The film Tesla Master of Lightning, I thought was a good documentary on Tesla and all the he did for the world. It portrayed Tesla as a man who did offer much to the world, like alternating current, but a man who is barely remembered in history. Tesla was probably an equal to Edison in what he offered, not only did ne offered alternaing current, but a whole system that would work with his system, including  transformers, generators and much more. Tesla was born in eastern Europe and came to the USA at an age of 28, coming with 4 pennies in his pocket and a letter for him to work under Edison. He did work with Edison but he did not like working under him and left his company. He would create his own labs and start his own experiments with AC and would be successful. So successful that Westinghouse would buy his patents and use them. From there he would go on to Niagara falls and would use it’s power to light up New York. Tesla’s many qualities helped him succeed and some of them were also his downfall. His motivation to complete his projects and take electricity to the next level.

Electric Nation – Jhonny E

I thought the film Electric Nation was a very informative film of the electric system and the had much to say about Samuel Insull and his goals for electricity. The film also does a good job at explaining the relationship between the share holders and the great depression. I think that the documentary address the path that electricity took after Edison harnested it into a home appliance and how electricity was starting to evolve  and move to more places. I saw in the film that it started talking about Edison than it would start to talk how more places in the northeast would want the electricity. Samuel Insull’s vision of electricity was a simple one, to make electricity as cheap as possible so that everyone can afford it. He would do this really well after he built the biggest generator that made like 1500KV( I think) of electricity. After he made the electricity as cheap as possible he wanted to sell his shares to the common people but his plan would go terribly wrong when the stock market would crash and many would lose much of their money. Then everyone would start to blame Insull for everyone losing their money. Edison’s system was really important when he was electrifying NYC. He needed to build all the parts necessary. He needed the system that would be able to tranfer electricit chealy and safely and to Edison’s eyes direct current would be the best. During the Great Depression Roosevelt thought the that best policy would be that the federal government to take control of electricity. Wilkie was against both Roosevelt and the Tennesse Valley Association thinking that electricity should be privately owned.

Edison the Man – Jhonny E.

In the film Edison the Man, Edison was portrayed a man who worked as a loving man who loved his family and would spend time with them and his wife, even though it was not true in real life. But he was portrayed a man who did love to invent and worked on his lab most of the time. He would start off as a man with a couple coins in his pocket and build a whole house and lab with the inventions he had.

In the film it shows that Edison invented his inventions in a matter of no time, when in reality it tooks years for him to complete his inventions. Edison was portrayed in the fim as if he came upon his inventions by accident. When in the film, the janitor i think messes up one of the inventions and Edison uses it to invent the phonograph and again when he was looking for a filament and would humorously use the one of the workers beards. But Edison would actually work on his experiments through his knowledge and theories.

Edison and Ohm’s Law – Jhonny E.

In order for Edison to design a better electric lighting system he had to take for account Ohm’s law which states E (voltage) = R (resistance)*I (currents). Edison took the understanding of this law and modified it for his use so that R=E/I. With this in Edison’s mind he knew that he had to increase the amount of resistance and also keep in mind the cost of copper, which was pretty high. Edison experimented and determined that the thinner the copper wire, the higher the resistance of the copper would be and also drop the price of copper at the same time. Because Edison knew this and also integrated this idea of parallel circuits, he was able to create a better electric lighting system.