What was the first electricity used for?

Answer 1

Electricity was first used publicly for lighting in homes and lighting of towns.

Before it was used publicly and used for lighting, electricity didn't have many practical uses and wasn't very popular.

Answer 2

Many people think Benjamin

Franklin discovered electricity

with his famous kite-flying

experiments in 1752, but

electricity was not discovered

all at once. At first, electricity

was associated with light.

People wanted a cheap

and safe way to light their

homes, and scientists thought

electricity might be a way.Learning how to produce

and use electricity was not

easy. For a long time there

was no dependable source

of electricity for experiments.

Finally, in 1800, Alessandro

Volta, an Italian scientist, made

a great discovery. He soaked

paper in salt water, placed zinc

and copper on opposite sides

of the paper, and watched the

chemical reaction produce

an electric current. Volta had

created the first electric cell.

By connecting many of these

cells together, Volta was able

to "string a current" and create

a battery. It is in honor of Volta that we measure battery power

in volts. Finally, a safe and dependable source of electricity was

available, making it easy for scientists to study electricity.

A Current Began

An English scientist, Michael Faraday, was the first one to realize that

an electric current could be produced by passing a magnet through

a copper wire. It was an amazing discovery. Almost all the electricity

we use today is made with magnets and coils of copper wire in giant

power plants.

Both the electric generator and electric motor are based on this

principle. A generator converts motion energy into electricity. A

motor converts electrical energy into motion energy.

Mr. Edison and

His Light

In 1879, Thomas Edison

focused on inventing a

practical light bulb, one that

would last a long time before

burning out. The problem was

finding a strong material for

the filament, the small wire

inside the bulb that conducts

electricity. Finally, Edison used

ordinary cotton thread that

had been soaked in carbon.

This filament didn't burn at

all---it became incandescent;

that is, it glowed.

The next challenge was developing an electrical system that could

provide people with a practical source of energy to power these new

lights. Edison wanted a way to make electricity both practical and

inexpensive. He designed and built the first electric power plant that

was able to produce electricity and carry it to people's homes.

Edison's Pearl Street Power Station started up its generator on

September 4, 1882, in New York City. About 85 customers in lower

Manhattan received enough power to light 5,000 lamps. His

customers paid a lot for their electricity, though. In today's dollars,

the electricity cost $5.00 per kilowatt-hour! Today, electricity costs

about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers, and

about 7 cents per kilowatt-hour for industry.The turning point of the electric age came a few years later with

the development of AC (alternating current) power systems. With

alternating current, power plants could transport electricity much

farther than before. In 1895, George Westinghouse opened the first

major power plant at Niagara Falls using alternating current. While

Edison's DC (direct current) plant could only transport electricity

within one square mile of his Pearl Street Power Station, the Niagara

Falls plant was able to transport electricity more than 200 miles!

Electricity didn't have an easy beginning. Many people were

thrilled with all the new inventions, but some people were afraid

of electricity and wary of bringing it into their homes. Many social

critics of the day saw electricity as an end to a simpler, less hectic way

of life. Poets commented that electric lights were less romantic than

gas lights. Perhaps they were right, but the new electric age could

not be dimmed.

In 1920, only two percent of the energy in the U. S. was used to make

electricity. Today, about 41 percent of all energy is used to make

electricity. As our use of technology grows, that figure will continue

to rise.

Answer 3

Electricity was first used for a specific purpose in 1800 when Italian scientist Alessandro Volta created the first electric battery, the forerunner to the batteries in use today. This proved that electric energy could travel through wire and was the first step toward the invention of the light bulb.