Electrical Breakdown Essay Samples

The video discusses the relationship between the electric potential and the potential difference between two elements. The video explains the circumstances in which air, which is normally viewed as a potential insulator, could act as a conductor when subjected to extreme potential differences which leads to the breakdown of ions in their molecules which in turn help them to conduct electricity. This is the major explanation as to why there is lightning during storms.
The video explains the relationship between the electric fields and electric potentials to make an explanation of how insulators can be suddenly changed into becoming conductors. The video aims at educating the audience on the electric fields and the electric potential and their interrelationships with each other. It also aims at describing the electrical breakdown by the use of either a field or the electric potential.
The video analyses the differences and similarities between the electric fields and the electric potentials. First, they both are generated by electric charges, and they both extend to an infinite distance from the charge. However, as the electric field applies a force to the electric charges, the electric potential provides energy for the electrical charges. And as the stronger charges have a greater force applied to the field, for electric potential, the stronger charges either gain or lose more of the potential energy. Finally, the electric field is a vector quantity. It has a vector quantity in every location in space and on the other hand, the electric potential is a scalar quantity.
Drawing a line charge on a graph and drawing the electric field lines we end up with an image with the electric field vectors diverging from the line charge. Each of the vectors is drawn in the line charge depicts the strength and magnitude of the magnetic field at that particular point. And as a result, the longer the arrow representing the electric vectors, the stronger the electric fields and vice versa for a short arrow. The line charge can also be used to show the level curves in the line charge. The curves are also referred to as the equipotential curves since the potential energy is equal at every point on the line. However, when both the equipotential lines and the electric field vectors are drawn together in a line charge, we find that the equipotential lines are normally perpendicular to the electric charges. As a result, there is no work done in the movement of such kind of movements because most of such kinds of movements are often perpendicular to the electric fields.
In the video, Electric breakdown is defined as a process through which an insulating material such as air which is subjected to a strong electric field dissociates and becomes an electrically conductive material. The field of extraction is bound to be dependent on many factors such as the humidity of the area, the temperature of the field and the molecular composition of the conducting material itself. An electrical breakdown in the air is an example of how an insulator is converted into a conductor with subject to the conditions mentioned earlier. The thunderstorms involve a strong electric field and a very high electric potential difference. If an electron is displaced from the molecule, it moves in the direction of the other molecule and collide with another ion. The collision, in turn, causes more free electrons and ions in space. Therefore, a single electron can cause a chain reaction in the atmosphere where many other atoms lose their electrons which create a region of ionized air and since the presence of these ions makes the air become a good conductor, the result is a lightning strike.