I know this is a dumbass question but how does electricity flow into my house?

Question

ok ok I know about power stations and transformers, but how when i plug something in is electricity waiting. Is it like water drawing on a big pool of electricity or is electricity so fast that you put a turbine on and immediately I have power! what happens when not enough is used, does it just sit there waiting to be used?

Answer 1

Think of a water tower contaning your water. The height ives the water tht comes out of the faucets a pressure, when they are opened. The power station gives the electrons a pressure called voltage that pushes the electrons through the wires. When something is not plugged in, there is no pathway for the electrons, when you create a complete circuit by plugging an appliance the electrons are allowed to flow. The transformeradjusts the voltage to 110 or 220 for households. It travels at thousands of voltage in the wires outside. Notice that a plug has 2 prongs, one for electrons to come in and one for tem to go back, a complete circuit. The 3 prong plugs have a ground that takes the excess electrons into the ground so that they do not hurt you or the appliance. The pressure is there waiting for a complete circuit. If a shrp metal object is stuck in the outlet, you complete the circuit and get electrocuted.

Answer 2

Electricity is a POWER POTENTIAL and it's based on a CONNECTION or LOAD that needs power.

Your socket is an UNCONNECTED potential.

You then put a LOAD into it with a plug connected to a device that is capable of accepting the load (technically called impedence matching).

The device has to be able to accept a voltage level (force or movement), a minumum load level (in Ohm or Resistance, in other words you can't stick a thin plain wire into the plug becase the force and power would burn it up one, two three, but if you have a THICK wire in a long enough length, it will use that power to generate HEAT, which is how an area heater works) and it's can exceed the maximum power avaible (in Watts/Amps), which means your devices can't SUCK OUT the power beyond the limits of what the wall socket can put out.

All of this is what IMPEDENCE matching is about.

And electric light bulb has a wire designed to take voltage and draw 60 or 100 or 150 watts of power (that's about 1 amp, from the 15 to 20 potential of each outlet) and it then generates light and heat from the usage of that power.

An Air Conditioner has a huge motor that sucks in up to 14 amps of power from the wall socket. Ifyou socket can delivery 15 amps you are safe. Plug that 150 watt light bulb into the second socket below the one the A/C is plugged into and turn it on and you probably exceed 15 AMPS and the fuse blows or circuit break flips off.

You've EXCEEED the power potential for that one wall socket.

Answer 3

Good question...Electric current is what all household appliances draw. Electricity will travel fast or slow depending on the resistance of the wire. Most house wire have a fairly low resistance...(fast speed). Also capactitors store up charge and can release it very quickly when called upon. Yes electricity is very fast in most cases, but also charge is stored up. If you don't use enough then yes, it is stored for usage later. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Picture a dam with water on one side and you at the bottom on the other. There is a valve connected to a pipe that goes straight through the dam.

Open the valve and water flows. The pressure is like voltage and the volume flow is like current.

The water behind the dam is like the power grid waiting to be used.

Answer 5

Yup, it's just there waiting. The voltage is present, but with nothing plugged in, the resistance of the circuit is nearly infinite, so no current flows. When you plug something in and turn it on, the resistance drops to some value that allows current to flow through whatever you just switched on. Current flow is what causes your electric meter to run, rats.

Answer 6

Its like the water in the pipes of your house. If the valve isn't open (nothings plugged in) theres no reason for anything to move. When you plug something in, current instantly flows into the device. It doesn't come from way out at the power plant everytime you plug something in.

Answer 7

In addition to the above answers, you are tapping in to electrical potential when you put the plug in the socket. You could probably compare it to releasing the pressure of a dam.
The electricity generating companies can predict when there is going to be a huge drain of power, commercial breaks in Coronation Street for example or factory operating times, so they generate sufficient supply to cater for this.
To minimise the chances of blackouts they ensure there is a sufficient margin of power generated above what they predict is needed. The industry terms this a 'spinning reserve'. You pay for what you use, they pay to generate what they think you might use. Don't feel sorry for them though, they make their money!!

Answer 8

Hey no one really knows the answer, people just have theoriest that seek to explain it.

For example, I have a theory that when you turn on the light switch my guardian angel turns on the bulb. But then this would be disproven by some clever dick who says it wouldn't work if my cable was pulled out. then i would say my guardian angel does not want it to work when the cable gets pulled out.

There is a conflict in theories here. I have had to append my theory in light of a 'flaw' in it.

But in the end, most people, would probably accept the above answers and not my theory. The above theories are 'scientific' but really, they are no more 'scientific' than the one i just posed to you. But in an exam, write down what the people above are telling you.

This is just to show you that your question is not a dumbass one, a really good one, and that no one really knows! People just have many different theories (like mine) - except that some theories are more accepted than others. Understand?

Answer 9

The electricity comes from the source then through cables and then into your plug. when you plug something in the pointy things push a lever and the electricity flows through like a river.

Answer 10

The electricity is moving constantly in a circuit, a system of grounds and alternating conductive connections, throughout the house and throughout the world. Or, the socket you put the plug into is connected directly to a dragon's butt. I am not an electrician so i am not sure.