SELF-LEARNING PACKAGE IN

ELECTRONICS
Origin of Electricity
(Week 1)
Learning Competency:
Trace the history of electricity and
Electronics
 Ready to Launch!
Electricity is a kind of energy that can only be valued by the effects it
gives. It is a fundamental part of the nature and it is one of the commonly
used forms of energy. This word comes from the Greek word elektron which
means amber.
The history of electricity is long and involves various stages of
discovery. This form of energy was studied by scientists and experts who
have tried to figure out what it is, how it is produced and how can it be
used.
This self-learning package will help you understand the origin of
electricity and how electronics developed over the years and how it is cur-
rently divided into specialty areas.

Aim at the Target!

After going through this self-learning package, you are expected to:
1. define electricity,
2. trace the history of electricity and electronics; and
3. identify at least 5 scientist with great contribution in the history
of electricity;

Try This!
Direction: Match the experiment/invention about electricity in column
A with their corresponding inventors in column B. Write
your answer on your answer sheets.

Column A Column B
Experiment/Invention Inventor
1. Experiment on static electricity a. Thomas Edison
2. Kite-flying Experiment b. Michael Faraday
3. Voltaic Pile c. Benjamin Franklin
4. Electromagnetic Induction d. Thales
5. Light bulb e. Alessandro Volta
 Keep This in Mind!

Origin of Electricity
Static Energy
In 600 BC in Greece, Thales conducted an
experiment on what we now know as static
electricity. He made what is believed to be the first
record of this form of electricity. He noted how static
electricity have properties that attract in the same
way as magnetism.
In the 1500’s the word “electron” was first
used—which is a Greek word for amber. Back in the
day, Greeks can create static electricity by rubbing
amber chunks. With he changing of terms, electron
became the official name of this form. This term will
eventually lead to what is now known as electricity. Figure 1: Thales

Starting with Benjamin Franklin

Many people think Benjamin Franklin
discovered electricity with his famous kite-flying
experiments in 1752. He thought that lightning was
interesting and wanted to find out more about it.
So Mr. Franklin did something very dangerous, that
none of us should try. He took a kite outside during
a thunderstorm, got the string of the kite wet, put a
metal key at the end and then let the kite float up
into the storm. What he discovered was that the
electricity from the storm clouds came down the
string, and he received an electrical shock.
Figure 2: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin created a device that
involved spinning a big glass jug very fast and rubbed with different
materials to generate bigger static electricity sparks. Another scientist,
James Wimshurst, created the Wimshurt machine that used the same
concept of, but this time, made use of rotating glass disks.
The Battery
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—then
called the “voltaic pile”.
By connecting many of these cells together,
Volta was able to “string a current” and create a
Figure 3: Alessandro Volta
battery. It is in honor of Volta that we rate batteries
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. This process of generating
current by the relative motion between a wire
and magnetic field is called electromagnetic
induction. 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 Figure 4: Michael Faraday
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 Figure 5: Thomas Alva Edison
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.
AC or DC?
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.
Figure 6: George Westinghouse
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.
Activity:
Since the discovery of electricity, great minds have invented some of the
innovations that we now find it hard to live without—like lightbulbs,
refrigerators, computers, and cell phones. Brainstorm what you think the
next big invention will be!
The Next Big Invention
Objectives:
1. Plan an innovation that is related to electricity;
2. draw your invention/device; and
3. describe the function and parts of your invention/device.
Procedure:
1. On a short sized bond paper create an original invention/device with
real world use.
2. Label the parts of the invention/device.
3. Describe the function of your invention/device.
Invention Rubric Criteria

Needs Total
Criteria Weight Excellent Good
Improvement Score
Conceptual 40% Creates original Creates original Lacks original invention
Development invention with invention with with practical use
real world use practical use

Problem- 35% Clearly Demonstrates Demonstrates little

Solving Skill demonstrates some problem-solving and/or
problem-solving problem-solving the scientific method to
and/or the scien- and/or the solve a problem, invent or
tific method to scientific method create an invention
create an inven- to solve a problem,
tion invent or create an
invention

Invention/ 25% Coherent essay Clear essay Presentation Inadequate

Device description description aligned essay description aligned
aligned with with award theme with award theme and
award theme and and depicted with depicted with ambiguous
depicted with distinct graphic graphic design
detailed graphic design
design
Analysis:
1. What is the name of the device and its used?
2. How does it work?
3. Who would use it?
4. What safety features would it have?
Abstraction and Generalization
In the history of electricity, no single defining moment exists. The way
we produce, distribute, install, and use electricity and the devices it powers is
the culmination of nearly 300 years of research and development.
Efforts to understand, capture, and tame electricity began in the 18th
century. For the next 150 years, dozens of "natural scientists" in England,
Europe, colonial America, and later the United States analyzed electricity in
nature, but producing it outside of nature was another matter.
That didn't happen on any large scale until the late 19th century.
Setting the stage for widespread commercial use of electricity were
international researchers engaged in pure scientific research, and
entrepreneurial businessmen who made their own major discoveries or
produced, marketed, and sold products based on others' ideas.
Prominent contributors to today's electrically energized world include:
• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American diplomat and natural
philosopher, he proved that lightning and electricity were the same.
• Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), a reclusive, unpublished English scientist
whose work was replicated several decades later by Ohm.
• Luigi Galvani (1737-1798), an Italian physician and physicist, his early
discoveries led to the invention of the voltaic pile.
• Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745-1827), an Italian
physicist who invented the electric battery. The electrical unit "volt"
is named for Volta.
• Andrè-Maire Ampére (1775-1836), French physicist who founded and
named the science of electrodynamics, now know as
electromagnetism. His name endures in everyday life in the
ampere, the unit for measuring electric current.
• Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854), a German physicist and the discoverer
of Ohm's Law, which states that resistance equals the ratio of the
potential difference to current.
• George Westinghouse (1846-1914), an able adapter of other people's
research, purchased their patents and expanded on their work. His
first patent was received for a train air brake. In 1869, he formed
the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. Eventually, he held 360
patents and founded six companies.
• Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931), the most productive electrical explorer.
He invented the electric light bulb and many other products that
electricians use or install.
• Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor of the telephone. In the
1870s, funded by the fathers of two of his students, Bell studied
how electricity could transmit sound.
• Ferdinand Braum (1850-1918), a German physicist who shared a Nobel
Prize with Guglielmo Marconi (1874—1937) an Italian Physicist,
for contributions to the development of radiotelegraphy.
• Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a Serbian-American inventor who discovered
rotating magnetic fields.
• Thomas Doolittle, a Connecticut mill worker who, in 1876, devised a way
to make the first hard-drawn copper wire strong enough for use by the
telegraphy industry, in place of iron wire. The young commercial electric
and telephone industry quickly took advantage of the new wire.

The experiences of electricity's founding fathers parallel in many ways

the electronic technology breakthroughs of the past half-century that have
brought us a whirlwind of innovation in computer hardware, software, and
Internet communications. Just as a wave of electrical inventions dramatically
changed the world as the 20th century progressed, so can we anticipate a
steadily escalating rate of innovation in these emerging electronic disciplines
beyond the dawn of the 21st century.
Application:
Direction: Observe your surroundings, explore your home and listen to the
news. What are the advantages and disadvantages that the electricity
brings? Make a table of the advantages and disadvantages of electricity.

ELECTRICITY

Advantage Disadvantage

Reflect

How has electricity changed the way of life in your community?

Direction: Ask your parents what transformations occurred since electrical

energy was made available in your community. Compare and
contrast your lifestyle now with the lifestyle of the people when
electricity was not used in your community. Write a short essay
about this.
Rubric for Essay

15 points The learner exhibits creativity, originality, and style of writing in expressing
ideas on the given topic; follows general instruction; writes legibly, and shows
correct grammar, capitalization, punctuations, and spelling.

10 points The learner exhibits little creativity, originality, and style of writing in
expressing idea on the given topic; follows general instruction; provides a title;
writes legibly, and have little errors on grammar, capitalization, punctuations,
and spelling.

5 points The learner exhibits creativity, originality, and style of writing in expressing
ideas on the given topic; did not follow general instruction; have no title;
handwriting needs improvement, and many errors in grammar, capitalization,
punctuations, and spelling.
Reinforcement & Enrichment
 Assess Your Learning

Direction: Read each item carefully. Write in your answer sheets the letter
that corresponds to the correct answer.

1. Most people give credit to whom for discovering electricity?

a. Anthony Ampere c. Benjamin Franklin
b. Thomas Edison d. Nikola Tesla
2. Who invented the Electric Light Bulb?
a. Anthony Ampere c. Benjamin Franklin
b. Thomas Edison d. James Wimshurst
3. What metal object did Benjamin Franklin tie to a kite to conduct electricity
during a thunderstorm?
a. fork c. spoon
b. key d. plate
4. Who is the proponent of the principle behind the electric generator?
a. Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta
b. Andrè-Maire Ampére
c. Michael Faraday
d. Georg Simon Ohm
5. According to Michael Faraday,
a. magnetic field produces current
b. current produces magnetic field
c. current is always present in a magnetic field
d. wire carrying current produces magnetic field
 References & Photo Credits

Project EASE: Module 6: Experiencing Electricity

https://www.ecmag.com/section/your-business/brief-history-electricity
https://www.upsbatterycenter.com/blog/different-activities-demontrates-
history-electricity/
https://www.hcusd2.org/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/5683e7aa1c11e/
History%20of%20Electricity.pdf
Thales
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Thales_of_Miletus._Line_engraving_by_Blanchard._Wellcome_V0005
771.jpg
Benjamin Franklin
https://ndla.no/en/subjects/subject:17/topic:1:184015/topic:1:184044/
resource:1:115897
Alessandro Volta
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Count_Alessandro_Giuseppe_Antonio_Anastasio_Volta._Lithograp_
Wellcome_V0006104.jpg
Michael Faraday
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Michael_Faraday._Photograph_by_Maull_%
26_Polyblank._Wellcome_M0017169.jpg
Thomas Alva Edison
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:American_inventor_and_businessman_Thomas_Alva_Edison.jpg
George Westinghouse
https://www.pikist.com/free-photo-itglk