POWER PLANTS
1. Electric __________________, the flow of charged ___________________________
2. What did the Greeks discover they could generate by rubbing amber? ___________________
___________________________
3. What are some of the “fuels” that are used to produce electricity? _________________________
______________________________________________
4. In 1879, Thomas Edison created the first incandescent lamp with a high ___________________
_________________ that glowed when heated by a low _______________________
5. The major disadvantage to __________________________ power plants at the time, was that
you could not transmit _____________________________ very far without losing a tremendous
amount of the __________________________________.
6. Westinghouse put his company to work at perfecting a system using _____________________
__________________________
7. Alternating current flows in ________________________________ which propagate more
easily and with less __________________________ in transmission wire.
8. The beauty of alternating current is that you can generate it at a very high __________________
and then step it down to any voltage you need.
9. What “won the day” for alternating current? _________________________________________
10. To what part of the plant were they building the tunnel to divert the river? _________________
11. The turbines were essentially ___________________________________ that could be driven by
the _______________________ of Niagara’s ______________________________.
12. What were the two components inside the generator that produced electricity?
________________________________________________________________
13. What were the devices used to increase voltage so that electrical current could travel long
distances? ________________________________
14. Inside a transformer, an electric charge passes thru one _________________________________
inducing a higher or lower _________________________ in another separate coil.
____________________________ multiply at the ratio of the ________________________
__________________ in the primary coil to the _____________________________________ in
the secondary coil.
15. Why were transformers needed? To increase the ______________________________________
to be able to _______________________________ longer distances.
16. What did greater voltages (pressure of electrons) allow? ________________________________
17. What is the job of the transmission substation? ___________________________________
___________________________________
18. What is the term used to describe the process that a transformer does to DECREASE
VOLTAGE? _________________________________
19. To what voltage does a transformer “step down” the power to feed a house? ________________
20. How long does it take the Bowen power plant to produce enough electricity for one house for a
whole year? __________________________________________
21. What 2 types of power plants generate most of the electricity in the U.S.? __________________
_____________________________________
22. The way you generate electricity is that you take ______________ and you boil it and create
_________________ and pressurize it, then you put it through a _________________________,
which is a simple ___________ which turns, and then turns a ___________________________.
23. In what way has electricity production improved? It has become more _____________________
24. The term used to describe “Demand” for electricity is __________________________
25. What time is maximum “peak” load? _______________________ why? ______________
____________________________________________
26. How much coal is needed per day to supply the Base Load (24 hour) plant? ________________
27. What is the coal used for? ________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
28. What is done with the steam after it is created? _______________________________________
29. *****Do you think that the water is returned to the river at the same temperature that it was
when it was pulled into the plant to cool the steam? ________________________________
30. The Dahlberg plant uses _______________________________ instead of coal and creates
_______________________ instead of steam to create electricity. Is it as efficient? __________
31. Today, the energy market and the demand for ________________________________________
power have created a demand for _____________________________
32. What types of power plants allowed for widespread electrical distribution? _________________
33. Fission is the process in which natural ____________________ that are radioactive in nature,
like ____________________ are bombarded with ________________________ and are
_______________ into other elements, and when they are split, they release
_________________________.
34. Uranium has the natural ability to _________________ which means the nucleus of the atom can
_______________________________ releasing _____________ and _________________
which will create a _____________________________________.
35. What does the electrical generator do (in a nuclear power plant and in all the other power
plants)? ______________________________________________________________________
36. How long can the fuel last in a nuclear power plant? ________________________________
37. What is the most significant nuclear power plant accident in the U.S.? _____________________
38. What is one environmental “pro” to nuclear power? ____________________________________
39. What is the biggest downfall to nuclear power? _______________________________________
40. What is the biggest problem with energy consumption in our country? ____________________
___________________________________________
41. What are some of the environmental IMPLICATIONS (problems) with electricity production?
______________________________________________________________________________
42. What are some of the problems with geothermal power? ________________________________
43. Wind turbines are driven by the power of _______________ which drive the ________________
and produce ______________________________
44. Limitations of wind power: _______________________________________________________
45. The most futuristic of technologies, _______________________ combines 2 light atomic
_____________ to form a single _________________________________________. This
generates heat levels similar to the ____________ and releases unthinkable amounts of
________________
46. What is the biggest debate with Solar Power? ________________________________ and the
biggest drawback? ______________________________________________________________
47. What is the future of solar power? _________________________________________________
48. Solar Power makes ________________________ and ___________________________ sense.
49. What is the most environmentally benign method of making electricity? ___________________
50. The future of energy production will be based on (choose one) renewables or nonrenewables
because nonrenewables are _____________________ resources and will not be here indefinitely.