Lineman’s Death – Ivan B.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to you on behalf of Mr. Westinghouse and the Westinghouse Electric Company about the matters of dangers of AC electricity. Mr. Edison and the supporters of DC current electricity believe that the different type of electricity, AC is very dangerous. While AC electricity may be have more voltage than DC electricity, any type of electricity is dangerous whenever mishandled.

While the tragedy of John Feeks was a horrible one we can not meander on that fact that he died. We must move forward in the technologies of electrical equipment, make them better, and make sure that an accident like this does not happen again. It was the AC wires that killed Feeks, but it is also the AC wires that bring electricity to thousands of people all over the country where DC current cannot be available.

A technology that is comparable to that of electricity is a horse drawn car. The intention of a horse drawn car was to make the lives of people simpler and easier. While it did make it easier to transport things over long distance, it also accomplished something that was not expected. When horse drawn cars were first invented and people did not know how to use them, many accidents happened because people did not know how to navigate them, nor were there laws as how to regulate the use of those horse drawn cars. As technologies were innovated, and laws were made, the use of horse drawn cars got safer and less and less accidents happened and fewer people got hurt. Just like the cars got safer, with the inventions like ground wires, and safety rubber gloves, so will the use of AC electricity.

Mr. Edison says that AC electricity is more dangerous and causes many accidents, while that is not entirely true. There have been many more accidents in Edison’s power plants than the ones that Westinghouse’s plants have produced. When it comes to electricity one has to be careful with how they handle it. AC electricity has potential to be dangerous, but it is not more dangerous than DC electricity. One of Edison’s DC electricity plants caught on fire because the DC electricity was not handled correctly.

Even though there were more accidents caused by Edison’s power plants, there have also been controlled  unethical experiments by Edison as well. To show the difference between the safety of DC electricity and AC electricity Edison’s people have fried animals. This did not show the safety of DC as well as Edison would have thought, because when Edison electrocuded a dog with DC current, the dog was in a horrible condition, even though it did not die. When the dog was already in this horrible condition, all he had to do was simply finish it off by killing it with AC electricity. This did not show that AC electricity was dangerous, it showed that it could finish the job after DC had already started it.

Sincerely,

Constantin Kozovsky

Edison Electrocution – Ivan B.

I think that was Edison and Brown did were not the best way to prove that the DC system was more safe than the AC system. As a business technique, showing animals being electrocuted by electricity may have worked very well because they were real-life demonstrations of what electricity could do, but they were not scientifically valid.

A cheap propaganda technique like this would easily convince any normal person that the AC system was dangerous, and would probably discourage the use of the AC system for their own safety. While this may have worked to scare people off from the AC system, Edison’s DC system was still loosing the battle because of other factors. These factors include the cost of copper and the short range of DC, and how less efficient DC was becoming compared to AC.

As from an engineering stand point, this type of campaign was not valid. Brown did not compare the AC and DC systems, he only showed how destructive the AC system was. For the experiments that were done to be valid, there would have to be a certain control, and also equal comparisons of both the AC and DC systems. Another point on the validity of the experiments was that they were viewed by reporters, who reported the results of the experiments. The results should have been written down in a scientific manner, and not as a public display.

This campaign was not at all ethical. The campaign started with killing a dog, already someone would believe that this alone would be unethical. After having killed dogs, the campaign went on to killing larger animals, like horses. While killing animals was unethical, the campaign went further to suggest killing a human. While the person that got killed by electricity had the death sentence, Edison and Brown went far to establish that Westinghouse’s AC system was dangerous.

Tesla Lecture & AC Motor – Ivan B.

As many electrical engineers entered Tesla’s Lecture, they did not expect for their efforts to be outdone by what Tesla had designed. What Nikola Tesla had designed was a motor that ran on the Alternating Current system and did not use any brushes or commutators. All motors previously either ran on the Direct Current system and or used a commutator or a brush. Tesla had created an AC polyphase motor that ran solely on AC and did not have to be converted to DC current or to aided by a commutator. Tesla’s motor used a polyphase system of currents, in which there was two AC currents which were out of step with each other. At the moment that one of the currents was past its maximum output of power and was dying off, the second current would step in and provide power. Tesla used this in the design of his polyphase motor. In Teslas polyphase motor, there were two sets of two electrical magnets, in each set of magnets, the magnets were positioned opposite of each other. These magnets worked out of step with each other, using the alternating currents. When two of the magnets were turned on, the other two were off. The center rotating shaft had magnets on it as well, that were pushed by the magnetic field produced by the magnets that were turned on by the alternating currents. The center shaft would always be rotated by the alternating currents and have constant power.

A similar design was proposed by Professor Thomson. The design by Thomson was similar in nature, it used the AC system, but it had one difference. The one difference was that it used one current instead of two, and it used a commutator to make the AC alternating.

George Westinghouse was big supporter of the AC system. He saw how advantageous AC was over DC and made it his own. He bought many patents from Tesla so he could use the technology to electrify the US, and make a buck from it too.

While Westinghouse and Tesla were great partners, the workers of Westinghouse were not. Tesla had trouble communicating with the workers why he wanted certain dimensions and certain settings on the devices that Tesla had invented and was improving.

Memory – Ivan B.

There are a couple key differences between the delay line memory and the dynamic random access memory. The first key difference is how the devices worked. Delay line memory works on the concept of taking an electrical singal and then transducing it into a medium, like mercury or a wire. A mechanical wave would travel through the medium and when it reached the end of the medium, it would transduce back into an electrical singal. There could be many signals that travel through the medium at the same time, but to retrieve any of them one would have to wait until the singals reached until the end of the medium. The dynamic random access memory worked on a different, much simpler concept. The electrical signal would be stored as a bit, in a separate capacitor within an integraded circuit.

The second difference, as already mentioned, is what the devices are made of. Delay line memory had a medium through which it passed which consisted of mercury, magnetostrictive material, or piezoelectric material. Dynamic random access memory consisted of simply a large number of capasitors in an integrated circuit. DRAM memory takes up a lot less space, and it also be used at higher speeds than DLM. DRAM is the type of memory that is most widely used today in devices that require storing data for a short period of time without having to save it for a long time. In the world of today DRAM is used many places which include computers and video game systems.

Micron Tour – Ivan B.

When going on a trip to Micron, I found a few things interesting. The first thing that struck me was how secure and secretive everything is. When we got to the facility, there was a fence with barbed wire all around the perimeter of the company. Once we made it past the “guarded” gate, we got to the main building and we had to get passes and scan them through to get past the front entrance of the building. All throughout the building there were signs and cameras that told you where you couldn’t go. It made me feel as if I was being watched at every moment and that I wouldn’t be able to get away with anything if I did try to. The next thing that I found interesting was the whole process of making a microchip. A lot goes into making themselves successful in the business they are in. The corporation has to be on track or ahead of the rest of the market with technology. It has to be efficient in making the product and being able to deliver it to their customers. The last thing that was fascinating was the clean rooms. I had never seen any clean room in my life before, and everything that we saw on the inside of the manufacturing floor were the clean rooms.

There are skills that one will need to work there, and ones that one will learn while working there. Internship opportunities are available in which one learns a number of different skills. One may need to know the basics of engineering, chemistry, math and physics before working at Micron, but would be further advanced while working there. The engineering types that you may see at Micron include Electrical, Mechanical, and Systems. The jobs you may find there include anything from an accountant to a professional chemist and or physicist.

How Transformers Work – Ivan B.

A transformer is a device through which the voltage of a current is turned from a lower voltage (the power station) to a higher voltage (high-voltage electric lines). Transformers are generally used in Alternating Current systems to transmit power over a long distance. When electricity is transmitted with a high voltage, the current is much lower and according to the forumla (Power = Current (squared) x Resistance) and Ohm’s Law (Voltage = Current x Resistance), if the current is lower, then less power is lost to resistance, over long distance electricity transmission. The opposite to the device of a transfromer, is a step-down transfomer which converts the voltage from a high voltage (high-voltage electric lines), to a lower voltage (electricity used in homes).

Tesla Master of Lightening – Ivan B.

In the film “Tesla Master of LIghtening” I learned a lot about Nikola Tesla, the ingenious inventor and his inventions. In his twenties, Tesla came over from Europe to work on his inventions and sell them to corporations, and get also to get help from Thomas Edison on his Alternative Current projects. Tesla worked on creating system of Alternating Current in which he could have power supplied by AC generators, sent over long distances and then be used by AC motors. The part that Tesla had trouble with was the AC motors, he could not get it quite right and he needed Edison’s help, the man who knew the most about electricity and perhaps the only guy that could help him out. Edison said that he would help Tesla out and pay $50,000 if Tesla helped make the dynamos work in Pearl Street Station. After one year of working and making the dynamos work Tesla wanted his reward, but Edison did not pay him. This came as a big shock to Tesla and he was left with nothing to do but go out and try to find his own way in the electrical business.

Tesla teamed up with Westinghouse, who supported the new and radical ideas that Tesla had. He supported him financially for a long time while Tesla created and improved his business. After Tesla had been working on his experiments for too long with no real usable results, Westinghouse gave up on Tesla and stopped supporting him financially. Tesla was forced to find other ways of funding him self. He worked on a side job to support him self and a small lab that he had created. There were many experimental technologies that Tesla wanted to create and perfect, many of which were not appreciated, and some of which were not practical. Tesla created the remote control, but at the time he created it, it was not useful to the general public. He had an artificial lightning generator, which he called the Tesla Coil. This device was successful in creating artificial lightning, thunder of which could be heard over 20 miles away. Tesla thought that this device could be used for war, to destroy planes in the sky, but it was never applied by any of the governments he had offered it to. He also tried to create a “global power station” which could transmit electricity through electro-magnetic waves. This device was supposed to be able to reach all around the world, but it turned out to be a failure. Tesla was an ingenious man with many great and some times, out of the world ideas. Many things that he had created were not appreciated until long after his death.

Electric Nation – Ivan B.

The film Electric Nation described how electric light came to be and how it was spread through the United States and the rest of the world. After the invention of the light bulb by Edison and his group of scientists, came the system to encompass it and make it usable on a large-scale. The system could support many light bulbs, it depended on the amount of electricity the domino station could generate. The system could send “safe” power for about a half of a mile. The first area where the electric light bulb system was tested was Pearl Street Station in New York. This attracted lots of attention because this was the area where lots of wealthy and prestigious people were around, and there were many newspapers that had offices at the Pearl Street Station.

The young man, Insull, in his early twenties, came from Europe to become Edison’s private consultant and accountant. The goal of Insull was to make electricity popular and widespread. At first the major cities of the United States were electrified. Most people in the big cities came adjusted to electricity and it was a common place commodity, but the people out in the country , like the farmers, did not have the luxury of electricity because it was too expensive. Insull moved towards making electricity relatively cheap and accesable to poorer people, and to the farmers. An organization formed that made it all possible around the Tennessee region was called the Tenessee Valley Association (TVA). The first large-scale hydro-electric dam was made in the region to supply many homes.

The large question answered by this documentary is how to make electricity cheap and readily deliverable to everyone. This question was solved by making big generators which could power many light bulbs, and other electrical equipment over longer distances. In New York, Edison provided a system which would supply light to the Pearl Street area. It was important for Edison to have a system because he would be providing the whole process of constructing and providing light. Edison designed the generators which powered the light bulbs; he wired the streets and houses which would carry the electricity from the generators to the light bulbs; he also created the incandescent light bulb which was the prized commodity. Samuel Insull had a vision in which everyone would have electricity for a cheap cost. He went to further spread electricity to everyone by selling stocks of the company to the consumers of electricity. This went horribly wrong when the great depression hit. Most people who he sold the stocks to were poor people that would not normally buy stocks. When the depression hit most people could no longer afford electricity, among other more necessary things for living. President Roosevelt proposed that the electric companies be controlled by the government. If the electric companies were controlled by the government then the government would have to provide electricity to everyone at a cheap cost. However, Wilkie argued that if the government controlled the electric companies then private sector of electricity business would be hurt.

Edison, The Man – Ivan B.

According to the movie Edison was a pretty remarkable man. Around the beginning Edison of the movie Edison figured out that he needed a laboratory to be able to make new inventions and get farther in his older ones. He had a friendly group of scientists, mathematicians, and physicists that he was friends with. With a backbone of some money and their help, they raised a laboratory at Menlo Park. The laboratory was set up on two floors with lots of tables to work on and shelves to store their experiments, but it had no chairs so the people would be working the whole time. The only chairs that were in the laboratory were for the accountant and the organ player. After the lab had existed for a couple of years Edison and his team started running out of money. He was almost forced to work for a guy, that would give him way more than enough money but he would direct him what to do. Edison did not wish to do this so he tried to find another way, and he eventually did. The lab was the highlight of the town and the towns people would talk about what inventions the team were up to then. This grabbed Edison’s attention and he would play with the press attracted by the town, making up farfetch stories.

Edison was a hard working man that always made it possible for the people working for him to have a job. He would rather close down the laboratory before he didn’t pay for their work. He was a very well respected man in the laboratory, but he was not so much respected at home. He would stay at the lab much more than he did at home. He neglected his wife and kids for the improvement of the world. At such a high cost, who knows if it was worth it.

In the end Edison was able to prove him self, his team and his inventions by setting up electricity in a New York shoppe. Although there were challanges along the way he never gave up and pushed through. After setting up the electricity in the shop, he was able to further set up electricity and lights elsewhere and became more famous.

Edison and Ohm’s Law – Ivan B.

With the knowledge of Ohm’s Law Edison knew that to decrease the cost of copper wiring he had to use Ohm’s Law effectively. Ohm’s law states V=IR (Voltage= Current x Resistance). Edison figured out that if he uses a light bulb with high resistance filament then the current in the circuit would be small (according to the formula). The reason why Edison wanted a lesser current going through the circuit was because of the wire thickness (or thinness, in this case). The thicker the wire, with the greater cross sectional area, the more current can flow through the wires, and vise-verse, the less cross sectional area of a wire there is, the less current can go through it. What Edison wanted to do was make thin wires, because making copper wires was costly. The concept of having a high resistance filament was different than from what every one else thought, and that is what gave Edison that edge he needed to find the right filament for the light bulb.