SOURCES OF POWER

The industrial progress of mankind is based on power: power for in­dustrial plants, machines, heating and lighting systems, transport, communication. In fact, one can hardly find a sphere where power is not required.

Atpresent most of the power required is obtained mainly from two sources. One is from the burning of fossil fuels, i. e. coal, natural gas and oil. The second way of producing electricity is by means of genera­tors that get their power from steam or water turbines. Electricity so pro­duced then flows through transmission lines to houses, industrial plants, enterprises, etc.

It should be noted, however, that the generation of electricity by these conventional processes is highly uneconomic. Actually, only about 40 per cent of heat in the fuel is converted into electricity. Besides, the world resources of fossil fuels are not ever-lasting. On the other hand, the power produced by hydroelectric plants, even if increased many times, will be able to provide for only a small fraction of the power re­quired in the near future. Therefore much effort and thought is being given to other means of generating electricity.

One is the energy of hot water. Not long ago we began utilizing hot underground water for heating and hot water supply, and in some cases, for the generation of electricity.

Another promising field for the production of electric power is the use of ocean tides. Our engineers are engaged in designing tidal power stations of various capacities. The first station utilizing this principle be­gan operating in Russia on the Barents Sea in 1968.

The energy of the sun which is being used in various ways repre­sents a practically unlimited source.

Using atomic fuel for the production of electricity is highly promising. It is a well-known fact, that one pound of uranium contains as much energy as three million pounds of coal, so cheap power can be provided wherever it is required. However, the efficiency reached in generating power from atomic fuel is not high, namely 40 per cent.

No wonder, therefore, that scientists all over the world are doing their best to find more efficient ways of generating electricity directly the fuel. They already succeeded in developing some processes which are much more efficient, as high as 80 per cent, and in creating a number of devices capable of giving a higher efficiency. Scientists are hard work trying to solve these and many other problems.

7. PULKOVO - RUSSIA'S MAIN OBSERVATORY

Two great observatories. Greenwich and Pulkovo, occupy a leading place among the observatories of the world.

Pulkovo is situated in a hilly area some kilometres from St. Peters-burg. You can't get to Pulkovo by train: when the railway was being built the astronomers specially asked that it should be kepi several kilo­metres away so that there should be no vibration to affect the sensitive instruments.

The work started in 1839, when the observatory was opened, and it is being continued now. This is the eternal work of astronomers — to de­fine the precise coordinates of the stars, to find out the exact "ad­dresses" of heavenly bodies.

But today the scientists also conduct a time service, they study activ­ity of the Sun, follow the flights of the Earth sputniks and calculate their orbits. The scientists of the observatory have made a valuable contribution to the study of the cosmos by observing artificial Earth sat­ellites, man-made moons. The study of their orbits is very important for the flights of manned spaceships.

The Pulkovo observatory has a radioastronomy department equipped with modern apparatus. The big radio telescope installed there is stronger than any other telescope in the world. With the help of this powerful device the scientists of the Pulkovo observatory carry out a number of observations of Venus, Jupiter and ether planets. It is neces­sary that before flying to other planets scientists should get the greatest possible information about the heavenly bodies.

The astronomers have obtained extremely surprising results due to radioastronomical observation. By means of the radio telescope some remarkable studies of the surface of the Sun and of solar activity have been made and a method of investigating the movement of planets has been worked out.

Astronomical observation and cosmic experiments are spheres of scientific research in which broad co-operation of scientists of various countries would be most effective.

8. WHAT IS AN ELECTRIC CURRENT?

The question is often asked: "What is an electric current?'' No one has ever seen it. We only know of the existence of a current owing to its effects. A current can heat a conductor, it can have a chemical action when passing through a solution, or it can produce a magnetic effect. We can measure currents by observing their heating, chemical or mag­netic effects. The practical unit of current is called the Ampere.

Two things are necessary to cause an electric current to flow first — a complete circuit, and second — a driving force called the electromotive force (e. m. f.).

If you put free electrons on an insulated copper ball, what would they do? In this case they would try to repel each other. In case you connected this charged ball to another ball of equal size by a copper wire, what would be the result? The electrons would move along the copper wire until the number of electrons on each ball were the same. This is an example of electromotive force causing a current to flow.

A battery has a surplus of electrons on one of its two plates; so yousay that a battery furnishes an e. m. f. If a copper wire is run from one plate to the other, a current flows in the complete circuit thus made. If a small bulb is placed in the circuit, it will light up, giving evidence to a current flow. If the battery were disconnected and a generator substituted for it, we should have a typical lighting system. Both batteries and generator are the most common sources of electromotive force. The practical unitof e. m. f. is the Volt.

Currents will flow more readily in some substances than in others, chat is, various substances offer lesser or greater resistance to the flow of current. Such substances as porcelain, ebonite, rubber, glass and the like having extremely high resistance are known as insulators. The practical unit of resistance is the Ohm.

Substances whose properties lie between those of conductors and in­sulators are called semiconductors. Let us name but a few most widely used at present, they are germanium, silicon, selenium and copper oxide. The importance of semiconductors in our life cannot be overestimated. But for these tiny "workhorses" electronic industry would not have achieved such a great progress.