Generating electricity

Question 1

What produces mains electricity? and how does this produce electricity?

Answer 1

Mains electricity is produced by generators, they produce a voltage across a coil of wire by spinning a magnet inside the coil

Question 2

How is the generator powered and fuelled?

Answer 2

A primary energy source is used to heat water, producing steam, this steam drives a turbine which is coupled to the magnet in the generator, spinning the magnet and inducing a voltage

Question 3

What is the problem with the waste produced by nuclear fuel?

Answer 3

The waste produced is radioactive and emits ionising radiation, increased exposure to ionising radiation causes damage to living cells to increase which eventually leads to cancer or cell death

Question 4

What is the difference between contamination and irradiation?

Answer 4

Irradiation is when an object is placed in the path of radiation.
Contamination is when an object gets mixed up with the radioactive material/becomes part of the radioactive source

Question 5

How do the effects of irradiation and contamination compare?

Answer 5

Contamination can result in longer and more intense exposure to radiation and is difficult to remove so can have much more harmful effects on the body than being only briefly exposed to radiation and ionised

Question 6

What is the mains supply voltage to our homes?

Answer 6

230 volts

Question 7

How is electricity distributed to our homes in terms of voltage and current? why?

Answer 7

To produce the power necessary for the national grids supply, voltage is increased proportionally to the amount current is decreased, this is so power is not affected but current is as low as possible, the reason for this is as current increases the amount of waste heat energy is increased and so the lower the current the more efficiently the energy can be distributed