Electric Current Serves Us in a Thousand Ways

The electric current was born in the year 1800 when Volta constructed the first source of continuous current. Since that time numerous scientists and inventors, Russian and foreign, have greatly contributed to its development and practical application.

As a result, we cannot imagine modern civilization without the electric current. We can’t imagine how people could do without the electric lamp, without vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines and other electrically operated devices that are widely used today. In fact, telephones, lifts, electric trams and trains, radio and television have been made possible only owing to the electric current.

The student reading this article is certainly familiar with the important part which the electric current plays in everyday life. From the moment when he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night, he widely uses electric energy. Only going to the institute either on foot or by bicycle, can he do without electricity. In fact, it is well known that electric current is necessary for the operation of trolley-buses, trams, buses and modern trains.

During the day he (that is, the reading student) will also use some electrical devices, working in the laboratory, making use of the telephone, the lift, the tram and so on. As for the evening, if he studies or reads by an electric lamp, watches television, goes to the theatre or cinema, he certainly uses electricity.

Some people are more familiar with the various applications of the electric current in their everyday life than they are with its numerous industrial applications. However, electric energy finds its most important use in industry. Take, for example, the electric motor transforming electric energy into mechanical energy. It finds wide application at every mill and factory. As for the electric crane, it can easily lift objects weighing hundreds of tons.

A good example which is illustrating an important industrial use of the electric current is the electrically heated furnace. Great masses of metal melted in such furnaces flow like water. Speaking of the melted metals, we might mention one more device using electricity – that is the electric pyrometer. The temperature of hot flowing metals can be easily measured owing to the electric pyrometer.

These are only some of the various industrial applications of the electric current serving us in a thousand ways.

Exercise 3. Write down into your vocabulary all new words and word combinations and find their translations and transcriptions.