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I hope this helps!!

A generator can also be used to produce direct current. I have an old generator, most physics teachers do. You can see the magnets and the coils of wire. As you turn the hand crank, the wires rotate around the magnets. As the coils of wires cut across the magnetic field, electrons are forced to move in the wire producing current. The wire in the light bulb has resistance, so the wire heats up as the electrons move in it. This causes the metal filament in the light bulb to get hot enough to glow. The last piece of equipment in a generator is a split ring commutator. As the rotating coil of wire moves down thru the magnetic field, the electrons are pushed one direction. As the rotating coil of wire moves up thru the magnetic field, the electrons are pushed the other direction. The split ring commutator reverses the current each ½ turn, so the electrons are all moving the same direction thru the light bulb.

Here is a picture of the split ring commutator
http://www.gcsescience.com/pme13.htm

Go to this site and you will see a picture of a generator.
Http://www.unm.edu/~physics/demo/html_demo_pages/5k4080.jpg

Here is an excellent article on alternating current.
Http://science.howstuffworks.com/electricity5.htm

Alternating current is produced by an alternator. The main difference between a generator and an alternator is that the alternator has no split ring commutator, so the current reverses each half a turn. This may mean nothing to you, but in order to reverse direction of motion, the electrons have to slow down, stop, and speed up in the other direction. As the electrons accelerate they send out an increasing magnetic field. As the electrons decelerate the magnetic field decreases. This changing magnetic field can produces current in a coil of wire. This is how a transformer works.

A transformer contains 2 sets of coils of wire each wrapped an iron core. One iron core has more coils of wire wrapped around it. If there are more coils, higher voltage is produced. At the power plant the voltage is increased to 110,000 volts to send to your house.

The power plant produces power. In physics we learn that power = voltage * current. The power produced by the power plant is constant, so if the voltage is high, the current is low. Low current is good, because high current produces too much heat in the wires and the wires melt. Before the power reaches your home, it goes thru a transformer which reduces the voltage, thus increasing the current. High voltage is dangerous. It can cause electricity to arc and cause a fire. The high voltage lines are up on tall poles and separated about 3 feet for that reason. You can see the transformers on the poles in alleys. They look like a cylindrical can attached to the side of the pole.

Now back to how AC works. Voltage energizes the electrons. The electrons give this energy to the light bulb (and all other electric appliances). The electrons obviously have to move to get to the light bulb. But, it doesn’t matter if they move in one direction (DC) or move back and forth in the light bulb. Either way the wire in the bulb gets hot and glows. When the electrons have given their energy to the light bulb, they leave the bulb and go thru the ground wire to the ground rod attached to your electricity meter. Go outside and look below the electricity meter. There is a thick aluminum wire going down to a metal rod. The rod is an 8 ft long copper rod. The electrons travel down this rod and join gavillions of other electrons in the earth.

¬Here is an article on AC vs DC power

This transformer helps transfer power traveling to and from California.

¬Batteries, fuel cells and solar cells all produce something called direct current (DC). The positive and negative terminals of a battery are always, respectively, positive ¬and negative. Current always flows in the same direction between those two terminals.

The power that comes from a power plant, on the other hand, is called alternating current (AC). The direction of the current reverses, or alternates, 60 times per second (in the U.S.) or 50 times per second (in Europe, for example). The power that is available at a wall socket in the United States is 120-volt, 60-cycle AC power.

The big advantage that alternating current provides for the power grid is the fact that it is relatively easy to change the voltage of the power, using a device called a transformer. Power companies save a great deal of money this way, using very high voltages to transmit power over long distances.

How does this work? Well, let’s say that you have a power plant that can produce 1 million watts of power. One way to transmit that power would be to send 1 million amps at 1 volt. Another way to transmit it would be to send 1 amp at 1 million volts. Sending 1 amp requires only a thin wire, and not much of the power is lost to heat during transmission. Sending 1 million amps would require a huge wire.

¬So power companies convert alternating current to very high voltages for transmission (such as 1 million volts), then drop it back down to lower voltages for distribution (such as 1,000 volts), and finally down to 120 volts inside the house for safety. As you might imagine, it’s a lot harder to kill someone with 120 volts than with 1 million volts (and most electrical deaths are prevented altogether today using GFCI outlets). To learn more, read How Power Grids Work.

admin answers:

Once the price of oil in the US reaches 5 to 6 dollars a gallon; you’ll see a massive movement that pushes better fuel economy and within 10 years gets rid of gasoline run engines entirely. The people would have to get a 100% to 300% cost of living raise in all sectors to combat rising fuel prices once the price of gas hits 5 to 6 dollars a gallon the government will be forced into creating a massive campaign to get rid of gasoline entirely.

You’ll see fuel cells that don’t pollute being put into cars; solar panels being made mandatory on all new homes in addition to wind generators in windy areas.

You’ll also see the governement forced into releasing our military fuel reserves to our allies and ourselves to reduce gas prices and pressure being increased by the military on politicians to increase the speed of the current programs to remove gasoline as a viable fuel source.

Most don’t realize it’s already being done in the military and once that’s completed it will be done in the private sector as well.