Chapter 1915: Power Generator

At this time, in Longyan.

Under the guidance of Liu Zheng, the Liangzhou Laboratory combined the Steam Engine and the Hand-cranked Generator.

Finally, the design blueprint was produced.

Looking at the design blueprint in their hands, their faces were filled with smiles.

With this design blueprint, it would be possible to build a factory capable of generating electricity.

However, to ensure this invention could succeed, these technology fanatics at the Liangzhou Laboratory used a small Steam Engine to modify it, allowing it to provide the necessary power for the Hand-cranked Generator.

The result was that they succeeded.

But they only succeeded halfway; they had indeed combined the Steam Engine and the Generator, using the Steam Engine to drive the Gear to rotate, and then letting the Hand-cranked Generator produce electricity.

But no matter how fast the Steam Engine made the crank rotate, the amount of electricity they could obtain remained small.

It could even be said to be scarce.

Regarding this technical difficulty, they did not know the reason.

They could only invite Liu Zheng to answer for them; Liu Zheng thought for a moment, and finally, within his vast and boundless knowledge, recalled the knowledge his teacher had taught him in middle school.

The greater the magnetic force, the more electrical energy produced.

"You all should change to a few magnets with greater magnetic force and give it a try."

The crowd was stunned, not knowing why this was, but they still followed what Liu Zheng said and installed magnets with greater magnetic force onto it.

This time, after the Steam Engine made the Hand-cranked Generator rotate, it emitted much stronger electricity.

But this triggered a new problem, which was that although the electricity emitted by this Generator had become stronger.

It was not stable; it was changing with a frequency.

Seeing this situation, the crowd became even more confused.

They all looked at Liu Zheng; Liu Zheng also did not understand why such a situation would occur, and finally, after pondering for a long time, he slowly said: "These will be the two directions for our future research."

"One is to step up the voltage of the Alternating Current we are currently producing, but we also need a Transformer to control the voltage, so that we can obtain the electricity I can use."

"The other is Direct Current; improve this Generator to let it continuously cut magnetic lines to obtain a continuous and stable current."

The crowd, however, listened in total confusion.

They had only just learned how to build a Generator; as for the Alternating Current and Direct Current that Liu Zheng spoke of, they were completely clueless, and as for that voltage and current, they were even less able to understand.

Someone raised their hand and asked: "Lord Liu Zheng, we didn't really understand what you said; what do these actually mean?"

"Yes, yes, Lord Liu Zheng, regarding this Alternating Current and Direct Current, they should both be electricity, what are the differences?"

Liu Zheng was stunned for a moment, looking at these top-tier contemporary scientists who were full of confusion yet thirsty for knowledge; he almost forgot that in this world, no one had yet proposed electromagnetic theory.

In the development of Physics regarding electricity, there was almost no development.

It was all being pushed forward by him single-handedly.

Liu Zheng thought about the knowledge he had learned in his previous life and said: "The so-called Direct Current and Alternating Current, you can understand them as one being a straight iron rod that will absolutely not bend."

"While Alternating Current is a curve that can change, but this curve's change has a pattern."

Liu Zheng squatted on the ground and drew two different circuits, one straight, one winding.

This group of scientists squatted down, watching with rapt attention as Liu Zheng drew on the ground.

Liu Zheng said again: "If you want to understand the biggest difference between these two types of current, you need to know a concept: voltage!"

"Voltage can be understood as the magnitude of electricity!"

"In Direct Current, its voltage is constant, with almost no change."

"While for Alternating Current, its voltage is a curve that goes up and down like this."

【Line 38 is a continuation of the previous sentence in the source text.】

"Electricity will be the focus of our development in the future, but you see, the voltage of Direct Current is constant, with almost no change; we haven't invented a Direct Current generator yet, but doesn't such a constant voltage mean it is always strong and will not tire?"

The crowd thought for a moment, and someone said: "If this magnitude is constant, then we need to ensure its strength all the time, which would waste too many resources."

Liu Zheng snapped his fingers and said: "Correct, we know that energy is conserved; to maintain such a strong voltage, it indeed requires spending more energy."

"And such a high voltage, passing through the conductors we have manufactured, will also cause problems."

"You can go touch that bundle of copper wire coming out of our generator now; is it hot, is it tingling?"

Someone just didn't believe it and went to touch it, and the result was obvious.

Everything was exactly as Liu Zheng had said; the small generator they built was very crude, the insulation measures were not done well, and the copper wire was exposed, but that was not the problem.

The generator produced now only had a not-too-strong current and would not injure anyone.

Liu Zheng looked at those scientists clutching their hands and twitching, looking at him with admiration, and Liu Zheng laughed: "Is it tingling, and a bit hot?"

The crowd nodded.

Liu Zheng smiled and said again: "This requires introducing two concepts: one is insulation, and one is resistance."

"First, let's talk about insulation; in the future, any wire bundle or machine that comes into contact with current must have rubber on the outside to prevent the current from leaking out."

"You were just tingling because you touched the current."

"This is only because the voltage is very low, and the current generator has already stopped; if the generator were outputting continuously, you can imagine what kind of situation you would be facing."

"This current will cause irreversible damage to your bodies; please do not doubt what I am saying."

"If you have seen what a person looks like after being struck by lightning, you should know that I am not fear-mongering!"

The crowd pondered for a moment, thought of the scene of being struck by lightning, and shook their heads repeatedly.

They did not want to experience that kind of thing.

Liu Zheng said again: "After finishing with insulation, let's talk about the problem of resistance; the higher the voltage, the greater the current these copper wires can pass, and they will become hotter and hotter."

"When the voltage reaches a certain level, these copper wires are very likely to become hotter and hotter, and finally..."

"Bang!" Liu Zheng made a gesture of igniting a fire: "It will burn up."

"Therefore, Direct Current is destined to be unsuitable for long-distance transmission; we cannot build so many power plants on Longyan that can be controlled within a safe voltage."

"However, Alternating Current can be transmitted over long distances, but the instantaneous current might also destroy electrical appliances, just like this Telegraph Machine we manufactured, suddenly burning out."

"It is also possible that it will cause this Telegraph Machine to lack a stable voltage for Operation."

"Therefore, we need to convert Alternating Current into a stable voltage, and this requires a Transformer."

"As for this tool capable of changing voltage, you all need to study it carefully; regarding this, I do not have a good Method right now."

The crowd nodded, and after carefully pondering Liu Zheng's words, smiles appeared on all their faces.

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