Facts About Electricity and Energy
- Thomas Edison owned the first power plant ever! The power plant opened in New York City in 1882.
- Today one power plant can make enough electricity for 188,000 homes to use.
- Thomas Edison invented the first long-lasting light bulb.
- Benjamin Franklin showed us that lightning is a form of electricity.
- In the United States, the most common way to make electricity is by burning coal.
- The strength of an electric current is measured in volts.
- The higher the voltage number, the more force there is pushing the electric current through the wire.
- The voltage of a flash light battery is 1.5 volts.
- Just one spark of static electricity can equal 3,000 volts.
- A lightning bolt can measure up to 3,000,000 volts and it occurs in just a fraction of a second.
- Did you know that if there is a thick coat of dust on a light bulb, the dust can block out about half of the light that could be coming from the light bulb.
- When you open your refrigerator, 30% of the cold air gets out.
- Every year all around America, home refrigerators use the amount of energy that is produced by 25 big power plants.
- One amazing fact about energy is that an open crack as tiny as 1/16 of an inch around a window can let in the same amount of cold air as if the window was open 3 inches!
- Speaking of cracks in houses, over $13 billion worth of wasted energy leaks out of homes through these cracks and tiny holes every single year. That would equal at least $150 per family.
