Electricity Gallery

Standard electrical circuit symbols

Standard electrical circuit symbols. Diagram of standard symbols used to represent electrical equipment in electrical circuit diagrams. The symbols are arranged in six rows of sets of three. From top, these rows show symbols for: conductors, power supplies, resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors. These symbols have varied over time and from country to country, and so various national and international standards have been devised to ensure consistent use of standard symbols that can be recognised worldwide. These symbols conform to British Standard 3939 (BS 3939)

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

1778 Benjamin Franklin scientist

Benjamin Franklin, scientist, inventor, and US Founding Father (January 17 1706 - April 17 1790). Steel engraving by J. Thompson 1834 with later colouring, after 1778 painting by Duplessis. Dubbed "the First American" he may thus also be considered the first American scientist. His studies of electricity earned him the Royal Society Copeley Medal in 1753 and in 1756 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. After an honorary doctorate from Oxford in 1762 he became "Doctor Franklin". He helped demonstrate the unity of electrical phenomenon, and the existence of positive and negative charge. His celebrated kite flying in storms was designed to show that lightning was electrical. Being struck would be lethal, so he only suggested collecting charge to show that it performed in the same way as laboratory electrical charge. Among his many inventions is the first lightning rod and bifocals

© This image is Paul D. Stewart 2009. Do not reproduce without permission of the photographer at Stewartpauld@aol.com

ITER fusion research reactor

ITER fusion research reactor, computer artwork. ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, is being designed to test the principles surrounding the generation of power from nuclear fusion, the energy source of stars. ITER comprises a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) chamber in which a plasma (pink) is contained by strong magnetic fields. A plasma is an ionised gas, and its ionisation makes it susceptible to electromagnetic fields. By magnetically compressing and igniting a plasma inside ITER, researchers hope to be able to study the best way of using it to generate electricity. Reactions are due to begin in 2016

© MIKKEL JUUL JENSEN / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY