Generator Fundamentals; Basic Electricity; Magnetism And Electricity - Briggs & Stratton 86262GS Familiarization & Troubleshooting Manual

Portable Generator Familiarization & Troubleshooting Guide
Section 1 • Generator Fundamentals
The Atom
All matter is made up of atoms. An atom may be compared
to a solar system that has several planets revolving around
the sun.There are more than 100 different kinds of atoms.
The various atoms combined together form all known
substances.
The structure of the helium atom is shown in
Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 — The Helium Atom
Negatively (-) charged particles called electrons revolve
around a positively charged nucleus.The nucleus is made up
of both protons, which have a positive (+) electrical charge,
and neutrons, which have a neutral (N) electrical charge.
The negative and positive particles that make up an atom act
much like the north and south poles of a magnet, in which
the north pole is positive (+) and the south pole is
negative (-).
Every child who has played with a magnet knows that like
poles repel each other and unlike poles attract each
other.

Magnetism and Electricity

Like the poles of a magnet, atomic particles with the same
charges repel each other and the particles with different
charges attract each other. In a normal atom, the positive
charge of the nucleus exactly balances the negative charge of
the electrons that rotate around it.

BASIC ELECTRICITY

Borrowing Of Electrons
If an atom loses electrons, the positive (+) charge of the
nucleus and the negative (-) charge of the electrons
revolving around it is no longer balanced.The atom then
becomes positively charged.The natural tendency of the
positively charged atom is to attract any other negative
charges, such as an electron from another atom (Figure 1.2).
Figure 1.2 — Magnetism and Electricity
The positively charged atom attempts to return to a
balanced (or neutral) state and will "borrow" an electron
from a neighboring atom.When an atom borrows an
electron from its neighbor, the neighbor then becomes
positively charged.This starts a "chain reaction" in which
each atom in turn borrows an electron from its neighboring
atom.
This borrowing of electrons creates a flow of current
that continues until all the atoms have achieved a
state of balance.
Figure 1.3 illustrates the transfer of electrons from one atom
to the next and the resulting flow of free electrons that
occurs.This may be difficult to visualize, unless you
remember that an electron is so small that it finds great
empty spaces for free travel, even in a solid substance.
3