4 Chapter One

electricity led to new industries and new jobs. The new industries required
more people than were replaced by machines.
Even today we hear about the possibilities of people losing their jobs because
of machines and robots. Automation is the use of machines that are controlled
by other machines and devices instead of people. It is another step in technical
progress. It makes possible more things faster and better. Automation and
robots create more jobs and a need for more skilled people. Trained people are
needed to design, build, and maintain electrical equipment.
One of the greatest uses of electricity is in the production of ice and cooling for
human comfort. Refrigeration and air conditioning rely exclusively on the abil-
ity of electricity to pump a fluid or gas through a system. Electricity is also used
to control the temperature in heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems.

Matter and Electricity

The name electricity implies the importance of the almost weightless, invisible
part of an atom called an electron. It is electrons that cause electricity. Electricity
is defined as the movement of electrons along a conductor.
An electron is only one part of an atom. An atom is only one part of a mole-
cule. None of these can be seen by the unaided eye. Thus, most actions in elec-
tric circuits cannot be seen. An electric circuit can appear motionless although
great activity is happening within it at the atomic level.
The electron can be controlled. Control of the electron is the task of an elec-
trician, electrical engineer, or anyone else working with electricity. Electricity
can perform work. It can kill. Using it requires knowledge of such things as
matter and mass.
Matter surrounds us. It is said to be anything that occupies space. Thus, all
physical objects are composed of matter.
Matter has mass. Mass is defined as the resistance an object offers to a change
in motion. The tighter the matter is packed together, the greater is its mass.
Thus, the greater is its resistance to any change in motion.

Solids, gases, and liquids

The three basic forms of matter, shown in Fig. 1-4, are solid, liquid, and gas.
A solid, such as a glass container, is stable and self-supporting. By definition, a
solid substance is one that offers a large resistance to forces that might change
its shape. A liquid, such as water, maintains a definite volume, but assumes the
shape of the container in which it is placed. A gas, such as the air we breathe,
has no definite volume. It can be expanded or compressed to the shape or size
of any container. The different forms of solid, liquid, and gaseous matter are
called substances.
Pure water at room temperature is a liquid substance. All samples of pure
water are identical. Pure iron is a solid, and pure carbon dioxide is a gaseous
substance.