Selects: How Electricity Works

Summary

Stuff You Should Know – Episode: Selects: How Electricity Works

Release Date: March 8, 2025 | Hosts: Josh Clark & Chuck Bryant | Production: iHeartPodcasts

---

Introduction: A Special Dedication

In this special select episode, Josh Clark introduces a 2014 episode on electricity as a heartfelt tribute to a young listener, Charlie Pendergrast, who inspired the topic with his insightful ideas. Josh shares his appreciation, saying, "If you enjoy this select, you can thank Charlie. Thanks, Charlie." (00:53).

The Fundamentals of Electricity

Josh and Chuck delve into the basics of electricity, distinguishing between static electricity and current electricity. Josh explains, "Electricity is the flow of electrons... it's a carrier, not a primary energy source." (05:54). They discuss how electricity enables modern conveniences by efficiently transmitting energy over long distances, unlike natural methods like convection or conduction.

Atoms, Electrons, and Electrical Conductivity

A core part of the discussion focuses on atomic structure. Josh outlines, "Within an atom, you have a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons, and electrons orbiting it." (14:40). They explore how the movement or stability of electrons within different materials determines their conductivity:

• Conductors like metals have loosely bound electrons that move freely, facilitating electrical flow.
• Insulators such as wood or rubber keep electrons tightly bound, preventing electrical conduction.

Chuck humorously relates electron behavior to "crazy teenagers," saying, "Sometimes they're crazy teenagers. And the slightest energy and movement makes them jump off from the atom and just say, I want to go attach myself to something else." (15:33).

Historical Perspectives on Electricity

The hosts provide a historical overview, highlighting key figures and milestones:

• Thallus of Meletus (600 BC): Early experiments with static electricity using amber (electricity derives from the Greek word for amber).
• William Gilbert: Coined the term "electric" while studying electrostatics.
• Benjamin Franklin: Proposed the fluid theory of electricity and introduced positive and negative charges.
• Charles Augustin de Coulomb: Formulated Coulomb's Law, elucidating the forces between charges.
• J.J. Thomson (1897): Discovered the electron, revolutionizing the understanding of electricity.

Josh emphasizes, "The discovery of the electron was basically the birth of what we know as electricity today." (12:26).

Generating Electricity: The Role of Generators and Turbines

The conversation shifts to the generation of electricity, using the Niagara Falls hydroelectric power plant as a primary example. Josh explains how kinetic energy from falling water spins turbines connected to generators, which convert mechanical energy into electrical energy:

"George Westinghouse set up a hydroelectric power plant along the Niagara Falls... the movement of water spins a turbine connected to a generator, creating an electric current." (23:27).

Electrical Measurements: Volts, Amps, and Watts

Josh and Chuck break down the essential units of electrical measurement:

• Volts (V): The electrical "pressure" that pushes electrons through a conductor.
• Amps (A): The rate at which electrons flow.
• Watts (W): The power produced, calculated as Watts = Volts × Amps.

Chuck adds, "Power is measured in watts. And I think it's multiplied by it." (27:27), clarifying the relationship between these units.

Resistance and Its Impact on Electricity

Exploring resistance, the hosts discuss how materials impede electron flow, converting some electrical energy into heat. Josh uses a water analogy:

"If you pump a lot of water through a small pipe, it slows down. Similarly, a thin wire with high resistance slows electron flow." (30:14).

They highlight that resistance is measured in ohms (Ω) and affects how efficiently electricity powers devices.

Circuits and Safety Mechanisms

The episode covers the importance of circuits, defining them as closed loops that allow electrons to flow. Key points include:

• Switches: Control the opening and closing of circuits.
• Grounding: Ensures excess electrons safely dissipate into the Earth, preventing hazards. Josh explains, "Grounding transfers residual electric energy to the ground, which is an infinite reservoir for charge dispersal." (39:53).

AC vs. DC: The Great Electrical Debate

A significant portion discusses the Alternating Current (AC) vs. Direct Current (DC) debate, famously embodied by Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. They recount how Tesla's AC won out for large-scale power transmission due to its efficiency over long distances, while Edison’s DC remained prevalent in battery-powered devices.

"Tesla was all about the AC current, alternating current. Edison, as we know, said, no, no, no, that's far too dangerous." (43:03).

Transformers and Power Distribution

The duo explains the role of transformers in managing voltage levels for safe and efficient power distribution:

• High Voltage Transmission: Minimizes loss over long distances.
• Step-Down Transformation: Reduces voltage to household levels (e.g., 120V in the U.S.) for safe use.

Josh notes, "They transmit the power with a lot of voltage, less amperage, less resistance... transformed down to 120 volts for home use." (41:53).

Practical Applications and Energy Consumption

Using everyday examples like a space heater, they illustrate how electricity consumption is calculated:

• "If you plug in a space heater that uses 10 amps at 120 volts, it consumes 1.2 kilowatts." (46:39).

They emphasize the importance of understanding energy usage for efficient appliance selection and cost management.

Safety Tips and Final Thoughts

Before wrapping up, Josh and Chuck share essential safety advice:

• "Don't play around with electricity. Always wear rubber-soled shoes because rubber is an insulator." (47:23).

They conclude with a reminder to explore more about electricity through resources like howstuffworks.com and kids' science websites for simplified explanations.

Listener Mail and Shout-Outs

In a heartfelt segment, Chuck reads a listener's birthday shout-out:

"Happy birthday to Molly on April 9th. I'm a middle school teacher who always listens during my prep periods. Happy 26th, Molly!" (48:57).

He also encourages listeners to send in their own messages via email for future shout-outs.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Chuck on Benjamin Franklin: "He's a smart guy. He's a polymath." (11:04)
• Josh on Electricity: "Electricity is just the flow of electrons." (19:54)
• Chuck on Electrons: "Sometimes they're crazy teenagers." (15:33)
• Josh on Grounding: "Grounding transfers residual electric energy to the ground, which is an infinite reservoir for charge dispersal." (39:53)

---

This episode provides a comprehensive exploration of electricity, blending historical insights with technical explanations and engaging analogies. Whether you're a curious listener or new to the topic, Josh and Chuck make understanding electricity both accessible and enjoyable.

Transcript

[Josh Clark]

Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Thanks, Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC with T mobile?

[Chuck Bryant]

No.

[Unknown]

Trendspotter has to deal with Trendspotty service because T Mobile helps keep you connected from big cities to your hometown on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to 4 lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service report in 90 plus days device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six.

[Josh Clark]

Hey, everybody, it's Josh. And for this week's Select, I've chosen our 2014 episode on electricity. And I chose it as a kind of Casey Kasem esque special dedication to one of our younger listeners, Charlie Pendergrast, who wrote in with a bunch of good ideas, one of which was electricity. Well, rather than just send him a link and being boring, I thought I'd share it as a select for everybody to enjoy. So if you enjoy this select, you can thank Charlie. Thanks, Charlie.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Welcome to Stuff youf Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

[Josh Clark]

Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Jerry's over there. Chuck's wearing his Last Chance garage hat, which means that all is right with the world.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

You know, if Chuck's not wearing that hat, who knows what's going on?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, there's. I thought I lost this thing.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Once.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, I think I vaguely remember that.

[Chuck Bryant]

Dude, I freaked.

[Josh Clark]

I was, like, crying.

[Chuck Bryant]

I was on the phone with Delta and everything. I was like, oh, here it is. It's on my head.

[Josh Clark]

In your back pocket with Bruce Springsteen.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

How you doing?

[Chuck Bryant]

Great.

[Josh Clark]

Chuck.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

Let's talk about electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

Electricity. Electricity.

[Josh Clark]

I've had the Talking Heads song in my head.

[Chuck Bryant]

Which one?

[Josh Clark]

Electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

Where all he sees are little dots.

[Chuck Bryant]

I thought you're gonna say once in a lifetime.

[Josh Clark]

No, that's. What is that called? Once in a lifetime. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I've been singing the Schoolhouse Rock electricity song over and over. In my head.

[Josh Clark]

What about the Electric Company theme song?

[Chuck Bryant]

I haven't been singing that.

[Josh Clark]

But do you remember it?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, that was. I was Electric Company over Sesame street, even.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah. I didn't think there had to be like a. You know. I didn't know it was like the Stones or the Beatles, you know.

[Chuck Bryant]

No, it's in the correct answer. There is the who, by the way.

[Josh Clark]

What do you mean? Like, that's the one you go for, the who. Is that right?

[Chuck Bryant]

No, I mean, yeah, I love the who. Do you? But I'm with you. I don't see the need to rank the things like that.

[Josh Clark]

Well, plus, the Electric Company came on after Sesame Street, I think.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it skewed slightly older. I think Sesame street to me, felt like, you know, 6, 7, 8 year olds. Electric companies were like 8, 9, 10, 12.

[Josh Clark]

And then even younger than Sesame street was Pinwheel. If I remember correctly, that was after your time. Pinwheel was pretty cute, but it was like little kids. And then Sesame street was like little kids. And then Electric Company was like, cool.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And Romper Room was kind of pre Sesame street even.

[Josh Clark]

So was that the one with Raggedy Ann and Andy?

[Chuck Bryant]

I don't remember. I just remember it was. It's very immature. Yeah, it's very childish.

[Josh Clark]

I think Raggedy Ann and Andy were in that. Well, at any rate, we've angered enough people now.

[Chuck Bryant]

I know.

[Josh Clark]

I have an intro for this one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Great.

[Josh Clark]

Okay, you ready? About 13.8 billion years ago, a little something called the Big Bang happened and the universe was created.

[Chuck Bryant]

So says you.

[Josh Clark]

So says a lot of people. Yeah, you know, we weren't around. Nobody saw it, but it's been detected. And it's strongly suspected by scientists that the universe is 13.8 billion years old and that it came from something called the Big Bang. Which, by the way, I would love to do an episode on.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Josh Clark]

Okay. And under the auspices of the Big Bang Theory. Not the TV show, but the actual theory.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

At that moment, all of the energy in the entire universe was created. Right then, Boom. Bam. Ever since that point, that energy has. No more energy has been created. And none of that energy has been destroyed. But it changes states, it changes shapes. It can be locked up in different places. It can be transferred from one place to another via some natural ways like convection, conduction, radiation. And like I said, it can be stored in stuff. Like it can be stored in your body. Right. Fat is potential energy that can be burned and used for energy to carry out work, which is all we're looking to do is work.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

We use energy to carry out work, whether it's digging a shovel or lighting a light bulb. That's what energy does. It produces work. Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Okay. We figured out along the way that we don't have to wait around for radiation or convection or conduction to do its thing to provide energy, because we'd have a lot of waiting to do. We wouldn't be in the computer age right now if it weren't for something called electricity, which is basically how humans have figured out how to harness converting energy from one type of another and then transmitting it a very long distance.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Because electricity isn't a primary energy source like the sun or solar radiation or nuclear energy or even the flow of water. Kinetic energy.

[Chuck Bryant]

No, it's created.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. It's a secondary energy source. It's a carrier.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

So electricity carries energy from one point to another. And if you understand that, you understand the very basis of what we're going to talk about today.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Like we've figured out how to generate electricity to carry energy to produce work down the line.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

That's my intro.

[Chuck Bryant]

Which is usually mechanical energy is what's produced.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

By a machine.

[Josh Clark]

Yes. So think about this, like if you capture mechanical energy, like water spinning a turbine, which we'll talk about.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And Niagara Falls. That's not going to do anything to light your light bulb 200 miles away.

[Chuck Bryant]

No, not by itself.

[Josh Clark]

No. Unless you connect the two, you send the work produced the energy captured in Niagara Falls down to your light bulb. And that's what we do. Using electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. Yeah. It's pretty simple, actually. It seems complicated, but it's not. No, Just electrons moving around.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Let's talk about electrons, man. Let's talk about the atom.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, should we talk about the history of this stuff?

[Josh Clark]

Yes, let's.

[Chuck Bryant]

Back in the olden days, in ancient times, there were dudes messing around with energy and static electricity without even knowing what they were doing. They didn't understand it. But it doesn't mean that they weren't playing around with it.

[Josh Clark]

No. And getting zapped because they were messing with static electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. Which we'll explain all that later, too. But there was one dude called Thallus of Meletus. He was a philosopher in Greece. And in 600 BC he is thought to have been the first dude to mess around with electrostatics, static electricity, by rubbing amber with fur. And he noticed that dust and feathers and things were Attracted to it. He didn't know what the heck was going on, but he knew something was up.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And the amber plays a pretty big role. It's actually amber, the Latin. Or. I'm sorry, is it Greek? The Greek word for amber is electron.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. With a K. Yeah, that was like, way heavy metal.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. You know, but that's so like our word electricity is derived from the Greek word for amber, from that first experiment with static electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And it was actually coined by a dude named William Gilbert. He was an Englishman, a physician, and he was studying sort of the same things with static electricity that Meletus was. And he was the first person to say it's electric when he saw these.

[Josh Clark]

Forces at work with an exclamation point and his finger in the air.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

We should probably differentiate. Like static, there's a couple of types of electricity. There's static electricity and then there's current electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And current electricity is what we are able to generate artificially. Static electricity exists in nature just naturally.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

And that was the first experiments carried out. Then there's other types of current electricity, like lightning. But at this time, when these people are messing with electric or static electricity or saying it's electric for the first time.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

The concept of electricity was that it was fluid.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, it was fluid. He was on the right track. Something is flowing. But they thought it was literally a fluid, which they called. Which in those days was called a humor. And he said it leaves what he called then an effluvivium. Effluvium, which is atmosphere around it. When you create this rubbing action, it removes that fluid. Right, but it wasn't fluid. They were not dummies back then. But they were just figuring it all out.

[Josh Clark]

No, they weren't dummies, because even Ben Franklin thought it was a fluid. It was the prevailing idea or concept of electricity. Ben Franklin and a couple of his contemporaries, including a guy named Thomas Francois Dalabard, were studying electricity big time. And it was when they really investigated lightning that our understanding of current electricity started to take shape.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, the old story of Ben Franklin flying his kite may or may not have happened. There are some people that think that didn't happen.

[Josh Clark]

Now, if he didn't do it, other people did. There were guys who died carrying out that experiment. Yeah, but it was definitely carried out. I don't know if Ben Franklin did or not.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, that's sort of the story that he flew the kite with the key. And some people think it either didn't go down like that or didn't go down with him at all. But it's a great story either way.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And I think he at least proposed it, the experiment.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, yeah, and he was the first guy to say that electricity has a positive and negative charge and that it flows from positive to negative. So he's a smart guy.

[Josh Clark]

Very smart. He's a polymath.

[Chuck Bryant]

Then there was another smart dude named Coulombe, Charles Augustin de Coulombe, and he is the one that wrote Coulomb's Law. And he said, like, charges repel, opposite charges attract. And that's kind of like the basis for it all.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And the force of these charges is proportional to the. To their product. So if you multiply the charges, they are going to be very strong or cancel one another out or push one another away.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. He basically said, you can now calculate this.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Because of my handy dandy little law.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And with a boom. He said boom, not bang. Okay. That came earlier.

[Chuck Bryant]

Later on, a guy named J.J. thompson, in 1897, said at a science conference, hey, I found something smaller than the atom. And everyone said, silly man, atoms are invisible. You can't. It even means invisible, you liar. And he said, no, I promise there's something smaller. It's got a negative charge, and I'm going to call it a corpuscle.

[Josh Clark]

No, he didn't.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it's Latin for small bodies. And then, I think, I don't know who later said, let's change it to electron.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, it sounds way cooler.

[Chuck Bryant]

But the discovery of the electron was basically the birth of what we know as electricity today.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

The understanding of the electron is what it's all about.

[Josh Clark]

And would you say like, 1897?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

So before that time, I guess he didn't understand the electron, but he understood electricity. A guy named Michael Faraday was working on the case.

[Chuck Bryant]

Stud.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Basically everybody's like Ben Franklin, electricity, hand in hand. Really. It's Michael Faraday, who's British, who really came to lay the foundation for electrifying the world. He just. He created the first dynamo, which is a generator, which we'll talk about.

[Chuck Bryant]

He first electric motor.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, yeah. He just. He got electricity and he explained it to other people very well.

[Chuck Bryant]

Can you even fathom how smart these people were to be that in the dark and figuring all this subatomic stuff out?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Back then, hats off, top. Hats off to these guys.

[Chuck Bryant]

Last chance, garage. Hat off.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And back on.

[Josh Clark]

Like, I have trouble understanding it now when it's explained through, like, kids for Science websites, you know, we're not inventing this.

[Chuck Bryant]

Figuring this stuff out for the first time. Right.

[Josh Clark]

Exactly. And it's a pretty dangerous field to try to figure out blind, too, you know?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I mean, more than one scientist got a shock from a Leyden jar.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And you can make those. Do you make those in science class?

[Josh Clark]

No.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, you can make those.

[Josh Clark]

Well, it's. We should say a Leyden jar is a very primitive capacitor. You use a metal rod in a jar that's sunk into, like, some water, and it can store a charge.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

I think Ben Franklin's kite experiment attached the kite to or a rod or something to a laden jar to store the charge, too, if that happened. Right. But again, he did make the proposal. It's. Whether or not he carried it out is a question.

[Chuck Bryant]

All right, I guess now we can get to atoms, finally. Very tiny. And they make up molecules, and molecules make up everything, you see?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Atoms are the building block of matter.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

And, Adam, remember, we're always talking about nature loves homeostasis.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, man, does it.

[Josh Clark]

You've got a balance that nature always.

[Chuck Bryant]

Seeks, tries to achieve it.

[Josh Clark]

Same with atoms, or atoms are no exception. I should say within an atom, you have a nucleus which is made up of protons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged particles. Neutrons are neutral. And then orbiting that nucleus, making the cool atom symbol, are electrons, and they're negatively charged.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

And when you have an equal number of protons to electrons, you have a neutral atom.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. There's no potential energy there. It's just in balance. And a lot of stuff is like that. A lot of stuff is imbalance. Some stuff is not.

[Josh Clark]

Well, some stuff falls out of balance easier than other stuff.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, yeah, the electrons, sometimes they're super tightly bound to the atom, and they don't want to leave the house.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

They want to stick around. Sometimes they're. They're crazy teenagers. And the slightest energy and movement makes them jump off from the atom and just say, I want to go attach myself to something else.

[Josh Clark]

They go on Rum Springer.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And it depends on the material. And those types of material that have either tightly connected or loosely connected atoms either end up conducting electricity very well or don't conduct electricity very well.

[Chuck Bryant]

So.

[Josh Clark]

So they act as either electrical conductors or electrical insulators.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Like if you pick up a stick off the ground, its electrons, like staying close to home. So it's not going to conduct electricity. If you pick up a metal rod, those electrons are crazy loose. And they like to go off and do those things that teenage electrons do, and therefore it does conduct electricity.

[Josh Clark]

Right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Very well.

[Josh Clark]

Under normal circumstances, when you pick up that rod or you pick up that stick, the electrons are staying put no matter what. But we figured out along the way, thanks to the work of all of the people from the Greeks to Faraday to Ben Franklin to your guy with the corpuscle idea. Yeah, JJ was his name.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, jj.

[Josh Clark]

Jj Corpuscle.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think it was Thompson.

[Josh Clark]

So thanks to the work of all these people, we figured out how to knock electrons loose. And it's ingenious and simple, but it's also very complex and it involves the relationship between magnetism and electricity.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Target made up and up for you. Helping you save on hand soaps with plant derived ingredients and custom fragrances with luscious flowers. Foam to stir the senses. Everyday favorites at unbeatable prices. We made up enough for you only at Target.

[Bob Pittman]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. I'm having conversations with some interesting folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned along the way that everyone can use. I'll be joined by innovative leaders like chairman and CEO of Elf Beauty, Tarang Amin.

[Chuck Bryant]

The way I approach risk is constantly try things and actually make it okay to fail.

[Bob Pittman]

I'm sitting down with legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist Jewel.

[Josh Clark]

I wanted a way to do something.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That I loved for the rest of my life.

[Bob Pittman]

We're also hearing how leaders brought their businesses out of unprecedented times. Like Stephane Bonsell, CEO of Moderna.

[Josh Clark]

It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world.

[Bob Pittman]

Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math and the ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to math and magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mel Reid]

Hey, this is Mel Reid, LPGA Tour winner and six time ladies European tour.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Winner and Kyra K. Dixon, NBC sports reporter and host.

[Mel Reid]

You forgot to say all my Miss America, by the way. And we've got a new podcast, Quiet please.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

With Mel and Kira, we are bringing you spicy takes on sports and pop culture, some golf haps and interviews with incredible people who have figured out how.

[Mel Reid]

To make golf their superpower or just people we like. Plus tales from the road and everything in between. By the way, Golf isn't just for the dads, Brads and chads.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

It's actually life's cheat code. And we're not going to be quiet about it on or off the course. We're bringing on some of our friends, like Michelle We, Heather McMahon, Amanda Baliotis.

[Mel Reid]

So if you want to keep up with us, and here is yap, tune into our new podcast, Listen to Quiet.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Please with Mel and Kira, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

[Josh Clark]

So, Chuck.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

We're talking about knocking electrons loose, which is ultimately the basis of producing electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Like when you were a kid in elementary school, you probably did the little balloon trick where you make static electricity and make the balloon stick to your sweater, Right. All you're doing, you're rubbing that balloon on your sweater, and electrons are jumping from that balloon onto your sweater. And now there are two different charges going on. Because you're overcharged, the balloon is now undercharged. And because opposite charges attract, it sticks to your sweater.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And that's static electricity.

[Josh Clark]

And static. You know, you have static and dynamic. And dynamic indicates motion, static indicates staying still. And they use that to describe this type of electricity because the electrons don't flow. They just sit there and wait for a connection. Like when you touch something that's charged, like a doorknob after you've shuffled with your feet in socks over carpet, when you touch that doorknob, you're forming that connection, and all of a sudden the balance is achieved once more, and the electrons flow.

[Chuck Bryant]

Like you're literally a conductor of electricity in that moment.

[Josh Clark]

Right. So with current electricity, those electrons move. They move along a conductive material, say, like copper wire or something like that.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's a hot one.

[Josh Clark]

Right. So let's talk about how you produce an electrical current. Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

Let's talk about generators and turbines and all that awesome stuff.

[Chuck Bryant]

It sounds like you need to generate that electricity with a generator.

[Josh Clark]

Right. I think that's what generators are called, that why they're called that.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It's funny just how basic some of these things are. Like you say a computer, Right.

[Josh Clark]

But you've heard it so many times, you take it for granted and it loses its meaning. It's like looking at a word too frequently.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I think a lot of these words are like that. Like a generator or a corpuscle or a What's it called when they stop down the electricity, which we'll get to?

[Josh Clark]

Transformer.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it transforms something, but you say them so much, you're like, what's a transformer do?

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

You know?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Anyway, I've been reading too much Science for Dummies, I think. All right, so generators. Well, I guess it all comes down to magnetism.

[Josh Clark]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

In the case of generators. And if you want to listen to two shows, lightning and magnetism, before this one, it might help you understand electricity a little bit more.

[Josh Clark]

All right, so just go listen to those. We'll wait.

[Chuck Bryant]

Do that right now. We'll wait two hours.

[Josh Clark]

So what I think Faraday figured out was that because of this relationship between a magnet and electricity, you can take a magnet and you can move electrons in, say, a conductive material. You can knock the electrons loose, basically using a magnet.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It's like what happens when you attract a paperclip to a magnet. It's just the transfer of electrons jumping.

[Josh Clark]

Around, and you create a flow by flow, flipping the polarity. And you can do this by rotating metal, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Say, like coiled copper within the two poles of a large magnet. And when you do this, you're reversing polarity all of a sudden.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And you are knocking the electrons loose in those coils. And the way that you spin the coils very quickly is. Is by hooking the coils to, say, a shaft. Yeah, we kind of did this backwards. Let's start at the beginning. You want to. Okay. Let's go to Niagara Falls.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

Back in 1895, George Westinghouse, who is Nikola Tesla's boss, which, by the way, if you want to listen to another really good podcast, go listen to that one. Nikola Tesla one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Remember, it was all about the AC DC war between Tesla and Edison.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Good episode.

[Chuck Bryant]

Kill Shocking Animals to Death.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, it's pretty awful.

[Chuck Bryant]

What a jerk.

[Josh Clark]

But in 1895, George Westinghouse set up a hydroelectric power plant along the Niagara Falls.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And what he did was he had a means of taking the movement of water, which is kinetic energy. The water at the top of the falls has potential energy, and then once it falls over, that potential turns to kinetic energy. Well, Westinghouse set up a turbine to catch this movement of water. Right. Which is actual energy, and have that movement spin a turbine, a propeller, or a fan.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It's the same concept as an old grist mill, except it's not creating energy. It's just moving the stones that grind the wheat or corn.

[Josh Clark]

Right. The grist mill Is.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

In this case, it's capturing that energy by. Or it's transferring it, we should say, by converting that kinetic energy from the water into mechanical energy, spinning the turbine. The turbine is connected to that shaft I was talking about where we suddenly changed course. And at the end of that shaft, which is now spinning, thanks to the turbine, thanks to the movement of the water, is some coiled copper. And that coiled copper is spinning within those two magnets.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, that's the key.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And because of that, the electrons are being knocked loose. You have a power line leading from the coiled copper out, and all of a sudden you have an electric current.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And if you've ever been to the Hoover Dam or something, you don't have to have a waterfall or a river to make this thing work. That's why they build dams. You stop up the water, and then at the base of the dam, you have the means to release that water and then it becomes that flowing water.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And then also for thermal power plants, they use nuclear power to create a nuclear reaction to produce heat, or they burn coal to produce heat, and then they use that heat to heat water, and then they use that water to create steam, and then that steam turns a turbine.

[Chuck Bryant]

And these are all just different methods, whether it's solar or steam or nuclear. I almost said it, which is weird because I definitely don't say it that way.

[Josh Clark]

Well, you were very excited.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think I said it enough as a joke.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

That it slips in. But anyway, all those are just means to turn that turbine.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And all it is is you're using that stored energy or that kinetic energy like over here to create electricity so that you can transfer it into work down the line.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

It's so cool.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And this article, we used a few different articles for this one, like we said, including some science for kids websites, which, by the way, I highly recommend.

[Josh Clark]

If you don't get something.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it's a great place to go visit are these kids websites because they break it down like super simply. But in our article, it describes a generator as if it was water in a pump, which made a lot of sense to me. The generator is the pump, but instead of pushing water through a pipe, it's pushing electrons down a line.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Power line.

[Josh Clark]

And that whole like using water as an analogy for electricity fits very well.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, but you need something to push it. It's not. It's not a self pusher, so you need that force. And that force is voltage, right? Yeah, it's electromotive force.

[Josh Clark]

It's the same with water. Like, you have water pressure that forces the water down the line. Right. And with electricity, you have a force that moves electricity. And it's voltage, like you said, measured in volts.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And the electrical current is measured in amps. And the amps represent the total number of electrons flowing through any one point of a circuit at any every second. And there's a lot of them.

[Chuck Bryant]

And if you have voltage and you add that to current, which is amps, you get power, which is watts.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And I think it's multiplied by it.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, really?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, it is.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay. I wasn't even thinking of it as a math formula, but it is, it.

[Josh Clark]

Is a math formula. And the reason why it's a math formula is because they're related. Like you can flip flop them, you can adjust them. And that's the whole basis of industrial power transmission. That. Which we'll get to later.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, and I know it sounds a little confusing with volts, amps and watts, but they are all different. Like if you said, you know, that guy was shocked he had 120 volts coursing through his body. That's not true at all. Because the volt is the force. He's got amps coursing through his body. Yeah, but you'd be a huge geek to point that out to someone. Someone said that.

[Josh Clark]

And a good rule of thumb is the higher the volts, the more dangerous the shock.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Which is why in America most outlets and homes are 2 or 120v, where if you touch it, you're gonna feel it, but it's probably not gonna kill you.

[Chuck Bryant]

In the United States It's 120, but it's different in other countries.

[Josh Clark]

Right. Which is why, like a European appliance can't be plugged into an American appliance.

[Chuck Bryant]

Because you got to get those adapters.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. So you were talking about current, which is the number of electrons flowing through a circuit. You have the volts, which is the force or pressure that's pushing them down the line. And then you have those two multiplied by one another to create watts, which is power.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

You also. There's one, there's another factor to electrical currents.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And that is resistance.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah, we didn't talk about that. We acted like it was all either an insulator or conductor. But you can be a resistor.

[Josh Clark]

Well, I mean, everything, everything has a certain level of resistance.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, but if you're an official resistor, that means current moves. It just doesn't move like as fast as it might in metal.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Or not at all, as in wood.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Or glass is another good resistor insulator.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And so is rubber.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

But even something is like conductive as copper wire has a certain amount of resistance. And again, that water flowing analogy comes into place. Like if you pump some water really, really hard.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

Try to get a lot of water through a very small pipe, it's still not going to come out very high, very fast because you're trying to force too much water through that little pipe.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

So in the exact same way, a thin wire where you're trying to push a lot of amps through and a lot of volts through, it's going to resist. And when you have resistance in an electrical circuit, you have what? You lose some of those electrons that are flowing in the form of heat, which is produced by electrons bumping up against other atoms that aren't sharing their electrons. And that's the result of friction.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And resistance is measured in ohms. Ohm. Should we talk about circuits?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Are we there?

[Josh Clark]

I think so.

[Chuck Bryant]

So all this is well and good. That's, you know, you can supply power, and we'll talk about this more in detail, too, to homes from a power plant, but you can also have a little battery supplying that electrical energy to a iPhone, let's say.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And in that case, you need something called a circuit, which is basically just a closed loop that allows the electrons to travel. And in most electronics, it's like. Like you said, like copper wire, maybe. And it travels from, you know, there's a switch that turns it on and off, which is why a circuit is called a circuit breaker. Like if you break that circuit by turning the switch off or if the wire like snaps or something, it's gonna. No more electrons are gonna be flowing.

[Josh Clark]

Right. Because there's. And the reason they're not going to be flowing any longer is because the positive pole and the negative pole from that circuit are no longer connected.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

Another way to look at voltage is that it is the difference between electrons on one side and electrons on another side of a circuit. And remember, we talked about nature always wanting balance.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Electrons flow from negative to positive, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

And as they flow, the reason they're flowing, the whole reason they're moving at all, is because there are not as many electrons on the positive side as there are on the negative side.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

So they want to leave the negative side to go achieve balance on the positive side and ultimately make whatever circuit it's traveling neutral.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

You stick something in that circuit, and as those electrons are moving from the negative side to the positive side, because, again, electricity is just the flow of electrons.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

You can convert that movement into productive work.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Mechanical energy.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And anything you attach onto a circuit to exploit that flow of electrons for work is called a load.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It could be a light bulb or, you know, whatever. Whatever mechanical energy you're trying to create is your load.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And there's all sorts of things you can do by attaching a load to a circuit like a light bulb. A light bulb basically uses that electricity flow to flow into a resistant filament, very thin wire that purposely resists that flow of electricity, generating heat and in turn heating up to produce light. That's how a light bulb works.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

You can also recharge batteries, which go in and force electrons back into the negative position so that the battery's recharged and those electrons are ready to flow again once you connect the circuit.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

There's also appliances that use resistors to produce heat, like a hairdryer or a toaster. There's all sorts of stuff you can do to connect into the circuit, but it's all the same, whether it's a battery or a toaster or a whole house. If you want to look at it that way. You're plugging a load onto an electrical circuit and exploiting the flow of electrons.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And I kind of misspoke a minute ago when I said it's creating the mechanical energy. You need a motor to actually do that. So if you have an electric drill, that's great that you have electrons flowing, but it's not going to turn anything unless you have that motor. And an electric motor is basically just a cylinder stuffed with magnets around the edge. And if you've ever used an electric drill and you fire it up, when you look and see in the vents, you can actually see sparks.

[Josh Clark]

It's pretty cool.

[Chuck Bryant]

It's very cool.

[Josh Clark]

It's like those little guns you used to get at the circus when you were a kid.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. God love those. So it's packed with those magnets around the edge, and in the middle, you've got your core, which is, you know, like an iron wire, and it's wrapped around. You know, the copper's wrapped around the edges. So electricity flows to that core, creates magnetism, and then that pushes against the outer cylinder and makes that motor spin around, and then that's where you get your mechanical energy.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And an electric motor is probably the best example of how you're converting energy from one form to another and then reconverting it. Because an electric motor is basically a generator in reverse.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And so you use that mechanical energy, the spinning of the turbine down the line and convert it in your electric drill back into mechanical energy to spin the drill. And in between is that flow of electrons that's causing the whole thing or that's carrying that energy from point A to point B.

[Bob Pittman]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. I'm having conversations with some interesting folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned along the way that everyone can use. I'll be joined by innovative leaders like chairman and CEO of Health Beauty, Tarang Amin.

[Chuck Bryant]

The way I approach risk is constantly try things and actually make it okay to fail.

[Bob Pittman]

I'm sitting down with legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist Jewel.

[Josh Clark]

I wanted a way to do something.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That I loved for the rest of my life.

[Bob Pittman]

We're also hearing how leaders brought their businesses out of unprecedented times, like Stefan Bonsell, CEO of Moderna.

[Josh Clark]

It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world.

[Bob Pittman]

Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math, and the ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to math and magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mel Reid]

Hey, this is Mel Reid, LPGA tour winner and six time ladies European tour.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Winner and Kyra K. Dixon, NBC sports reporter and host.

[Mel Reid]

You forgot to say warm and Miss America, by the way. And we've got a new podcast, Quiet Please with Mel and Kira.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

We are bringing you spicy takes on sports and pop culture, some golf haps and interviews with incredible people who have figured out how to make golf.

[Mel Reid]

They're super power or just people we like. Plus tales from the road and everything in between. By the way, golf isn't just for the dads, Brads and chads.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it's actually life's cheat code and we're not going to be quiet about it on or off the course. We're bringing on some of our friends like Michelle We, Heather McMahon, Amanda Baliotis.

[Mel Reid]

So if you want to keep up with us, and here is yap, tune into our new podcast, listen to Quiet.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Please with Mel and Kira, an I heart women's sports production in part Partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

[Will]

Hey, Will, do you ever get overwhelmed by how much science happens these days?

[Mango]

Constantly. I'm like, ah, there's so much science, I can't keep track of it all.

[Will]

Then it's a good thing. Our podcast, part Time Genius is counting down the 25 greatest science ideas from the past 20, 25 years.

[Mango]

That's right, Mango. We're talking animals in a paper called.

[Will]

Quote, chickens prefer beautiful humans. This was actually the title of the paper. They all discovered that, much like humans, chickens are attracted to symmetrical faces.

[Josh Clark]

Got it.

[Will]

We're talking medical miracles.

[Mango]

He's an endocrinologist who found a way to stimulate insulin producing cells using, wait for it, the saliva of a Gila monster.

[Will]

There's no way to make that not sound crazy.

[Mango]

We even talked to some of the experts behind these breakthroughs. It's a week full of fact packed stories you won't want to miss. So listen to the part time Genius countdown of the 25 greatest science ideas of the past 25 years, starting Monday, March 3rd on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Josh Clark]

There's one other thing. If you look at a plug that you're plugging an appliance into, because again, you're just attaching a load to that flow of electrons and diverting it through your appliance and then it goes back on its merry way, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

If you look at a plug, sometimes you'll see three prongs. And the third prong, the one on the bottom, seems different from the other ones. It's round. And that is actually a grounding wire.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, very important.

[Josh Clark]

Very, very important. Because as awesome as we've gotten with producing and directing electricity, we can't control the amount of electrons that flow through an outlet to down to a single electron.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And so there's such a thing as leakage of electrons, which is crazy. And there's also electrical buildup that can happen where if you're not using all of the amps through an appliance, the residual amps can build up and they, they charge the appliance. And again, as with static electricity, a charge is just sitting there waiting to be neutralized, sometimes through you, which can make it very dangerous. To prevent this, they connect the appliance through either that third prong in a plug or through an actual grounding wire to a copper wire that's driven into the ground. And that's where the word comes from. Ground. You're actually transferring that residual electric energy to the ground, which is basically an infinite reservoir for charge dispersal to Earth. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

So, like, when you look at a power line and you see that bare wire coming down from the power line and driven into the ground by a stake, that is the ground. And it goes down, like, 6 or 10ft. Yeah. Or if you look at every house, you're gonna see near the meter, the electrical meter, you're gonna see probably a copper rod driven into the ground, and that's your house's ground.

[Josh Clark]

Exactly. Same thing with a lightning rod. It's a ground for your entire house so that the lightning doesn't go through your house. It goes through the lightning rod. And the point of all of those is that the Earth is. It can take it. Go ahead, give it as many electrical shocks as you want. It's gonna be fine.

[Chuck Bryant]

So we think.

[Josh Clark]

And it's a very good. It's very good at just dispersing those charges. So that's what grounding comes from. Very important stuff.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And we mentioned transformers earlier. Power plants create massive amounts of electricity, and you can't just shoot that down a power line and straight into a house because it will blow up everything in your home immediately. But they do need that kind of juice in order to transfer, like, hundreds of miles away from the power plant. You know, if you don't live close, it's still got to get to you.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

So the way they do that is through transformers. They transmit the power with a lot of voltage. So more force, less amperage, less resistance. Less resistance, which means you lose less. And then once it, you know, they stop it down along the way. And by the time it gets to your home, it's transformed down to here in the United States, 120 volts.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. More elsewhere.

[Chuck Bryant]

Nice and safe.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And then you just plug your appliance into it, and all of a sudden, that electrical energy transmits to your toaster strudel being warmed.

[Chuck Bryant]

Your hot pocket with tainted meats.

[Josh Clark]

Wow.

[Chuck Bryant]

Did you hear about that? Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Remember that whole horse meat thing with IKEA last couple years? It wasn't just ikea, but they were definitely called out, maybe most strongly for.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think, the hot Pockets, too. They called it unsound meat, which is just a word that sounds weird in front of meat.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Unsound. It's not.

[Chuck Bryant]

You don't want to go near it.

[Josh Clark]

Unsound, unclean. It's biblical.

[Chuck Bryant]

All right, so now I think we, even though we've covered it in the Tesla podcast, we do need to go over AC DC a little bit.

[Josh Clark]

Seriously, go listen to that podcast. That's a great one. Great episode.

[Chuck Bryant]

Best Australian band of all time.

[Josh Clark]

They were good. Yeah, yeah, are good, David. Are they still around?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, man.

[Josh Clark]

David Bowie played a pretty mean Tesla.

[Chuck Bryant]

No, I'm not talking about Tesla. I'm talking about AC dc.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, Tesla was all right.

[Josh Clark]

Sure.

[Chuck Bryant]

And they're not around.

[Josh Clark]

That's why I was really confused for a second. I was more confused about that than I was by any aspect of electricity.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'm like, yeah, man, of course they're.

[Josh Clark]

Around and they're Australian. Yeah, no, ACDC is great. And they're still around, huh?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I think they're putting an album together right now.

[Josh Clark]

Good for them. I'll bet. It sounds exactly like all the rest. It still rocks. Blues based rock in velour or velvet.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes. So there was a battle being waged between Tesla and Edison. And Tesla was all about the AC current, alternating current. Edison, as we know, said, no, no, no, that's far too dangerous. And I'll prove this to you by electrocuting animals and dogs and cats and even an elephant named Topsy.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And he was alleged to have helped botch the first electrocution by Electric chair by A State.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Clark]

I don't remember the details of that, but it's definitely in our episode.

[Chuck Bryant]

He exploded, the guy.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, he was a real jerk, remember?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And I think we remembered. I remember talking about. There should be a movie too, about that battle.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. I can't believe there's not.

[Chuck Bryant]

It sounds super nerdy, but it would actually be interesting.

[Josh Clark]

It'd go over well these days.

[Chuck Bryant]

Agreed. So batteries these days use direct current power, DC power. And that means the positive and negative terminals are always positive and negative. And it always. Electricity always flows in the same direction.

[Josh Clark]

From negative to positive.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It does not alternate.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Just think about it this way. Negative. An electron's negative.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

So in any terminal, that's where all the negative charge is bad vibes. And then positive is where the electrons want to be because they're seeking to balance it out and create neutral so that there's no pole.

[Chuck Bryant]

Good vibes.

[Bob Pittman]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Or at the very least, so. So vibes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, True. But not negative vibes.

[Josh Clark]

No.

[Chuck Bryant]

And then you have alternating current or AC, which means the current reverses 60 times per second here in the US, 50 times per second in Europe. So it's just Reversing back and forth, alternating that current and I guess. So who won out in the end? Tesla on a large scale?

[Josh Clark]

Well, yeah. I mean, that's what our generation does. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

But Edison has his batteries. I guess that he could throw it.

[Josh Clark]

Which are pretty important, too. But, yeah, I think we kind of came out in the same way on that episode. Yeah, we're like, they both kind of won. Yeah, but Tesla was the cooler dude. Although Tesla died penniless in New York in the 1940s.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And Edison died of rich fat guy.

[Chuck Bryant]

He died of consumption and gout.

[Josh Clark]

That was Ben Franklin.

[Chuck Bryant]

I guess we can finish with. If you get your power bill and you're amazed and you wonder how they calculate this stuff, it's pretty easy. Like we said here in the US we deliver electricity into your home at 120 volts. So you gotta remember that. One, two. It's important. Our article uses space heater as an example, which I think is pretty good. You plug in that space heater. Let's say it's the only thing going in your house, which is not realistic. But go with me. You plug in the space heater and it comes out to 10amps. So you multiply that 10 times 120, because that's your voltage, and you have.

[Josh Clark]

Got 1200 watts of heat, or 1.2 kilowatts.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes. Because that's how the power company is going to measure it.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Cause they deal in big chunks.

[Josh Clark]

And if you leave that heater on for an hour, you just use 1.2 kilowatt hours, which is how you build.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And if they charge you a dime per kilowatt hour, it's going to cost you 12 cents an hour to run that space heater.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Pretty simple.

[Josh Clark]

Yep.

[Chuck Bryant]

And neat. And that's why when you go to buy an appliance, you should look at that little tag that says how many kilowatt hours you're going to be burning.

[Josh Clark]

That's right.

[Chuck Bryant]

The lower the better.

[Josh Clark]

So, electricity, huh? You got anything else?

[Chuck Bryant]

No. Don't play around with it.

[Josh Clark]

No, don't. Yes. Always wear rubber soled shoes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Because rubber is an insulator.

[Josh Clark]

It is? Why? Because it hangs on to its electrons.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

The atoms that make up rubber.

[Chuck Bryant]

It's just that simple.

[Josh Clark]

If you want to know more about electricity, you can type that word in the search [e-mail]. you can also go on all sorts of kids science sites and find out more about it, too. And since I said search bar, it's time for listener mail.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'm gonna call this rare birthday shout out. Hey, guys, my name is Pearl, and I just want to tell you how much a fan I am of your show. I was introduced to the podcast by my best friend Molly. We've been best friends for 12 years, and many of our conversations begin by commenting on the podcast. For example, we could not stop laughing at your 1920s voice toward the end of the Underground tunnels episode. We laughed over and over.

[Josh Clark]

That is a good voice.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think she's talking about this one. See that one?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Electricity, Tesla, Edison. Killing animals. All right, that was for you, Molly and Pearl. Whenever we're in the car together, we find a podcast of yours to listen to so we can enjoy it together. I was wondering if you could help her out. Molly's 26th birthday is April 9th. I think it would be totally awesome birthday gift. If you would send her a shout out during listener mail. I would be forever in your debt. Thanks for doing the podcast. I'm a middle school teacher who always listens during my prep periods, and so happy birthday, Molly. Happy 26th. This should be close.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Happy birthday to April 9th.

[Josh Clark]

That was very nice of us, Chuck.

[Chuck Bryant]

And thank you, Pearl Webb in Chicago. And your friendship means a lot to us.

[Josh Clark]

You know, your friendship with one another.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And then conversely, through us all together in their car.

[Josh Clark]

Well, if you want to get some sort of shout out sometimes. Chuck Danes too. He's very nice. You can send us an email to stuffpodcastheartradio.com.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Stuff youf Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, my heart radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Will]

Hey, Will, do you ever get overwhelmed by how much science happens these days?

[Mango]

Constantly. I'm like, ah, there's so much science, I can't keep track of it all.

[Will]

Then it's a good thing. Our podcast Part Time Genius is counting down the 25 greatest science ideas for from the past 25 years.

[Mango]

That's right, Mango. We're talking animals in a paper called.

[Will]

Quote, chickens prefer beautiful humans.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Will]

This was actually the title of the paper. They all discovered that, much like humans, chickens are attracted to symmetrical faces.

[Josh Clark]

Got it.

[Will]

We're talking medical miracles.

[Mango]

He's an endocrinologist who found a way to stimulate insulin producing cells using, wait for it, the saliva of a Gila monster.

[Will]

There's no way to make that not sound crazy.

[Mango]

We even talked to some of the experts behind these breakthroughs. It's a week full of fact packed stories you won't want to miss. So listen to the part time Genius countdown of the 25 greatest science ideas of the past 25 years starting Monday, March 3rd on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colleen Witt]

Are you hungry? Colleen Witt here and Eating While Broke is back for Season four every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season we've got a legendary lineup serving up broke dishes and even better stor on the menu we have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon, Melissa Ford, October London and Carrie Harper Howey turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts Wherever you get your favorite shows, come hungry for season four.

[Bob Pittman]

Hi, I'm Bob Pippman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. I'm having conversations with some folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned along the way that everyone can use. I'll be joined by innovative leaders like Chairman and CEO of Elf Beauty, Tarang Amin, legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist Jewel.

[Josh Clark]

Being a rock star is very fun, but helping people is way more fun.

[Bob Pittman]

And Damian Maldonado, CEO of American Financing.

[Josh Clark]

I figured out the formula. I just have to work hard then that's magic.

[Bob Pittman]

Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math and the ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to Math and Magic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.