Throughout the whole history of mankind, one thing is apparent and that is: just as we need food and water, we also need energy. When I say energy, I don’t mean energy that is in our bodies. I mean energy that keeps us going for machines. It also seems that the more advanced our society becomes, the more dependant we become on energy. This can be seen throughout the history of man, because in the beginning hardly any energy was needed except for heat which was to warm the cavemen up.

But over the centuries this energy dependence changed so much that by the age we are living in if we try to stop using any energy at all, we will probably become extinct and die. And maybe that is the only weakness of mankind, which is energy. (But to get back to this essay! ) What I would like to do in this essay is to first say what electrical power is, and then to say what a non-renewable and renewable sources is and give some examples of them and explain them a bit. And finally I would like to finish this off, by giving or conclusion about the best type of energy to use in our homes.

This of course will be influenced, about my finding and views throughout this essay, so here it goes: There are 2 different types of energy sources, these 2 types non-renewable (which can’t be used again) and renewable (which can be used again). I am going to start the explanation about non-renewable sources and to be precise I am going to talk about 2 types of non-renewable sources: 1. Nuclear Power: Nuclear power is a type of power that has been lately affected by a lot of controversial views, because of the terrible affects it can have (i. e. Chernobyl).

The basic energy transformation that happens in a nuclear power plant is that potential energy stored in the uranium breaks down to give heat, and this heat is converted kinetic energy by gas turbines, and the gas turbines finally produce electricity. But now to transform this energy transformation into actual steps it looks as the following: the chain reaction takes place, by first having neutrons penetrating into the nucleus of the uranium. The reason that this takes place is because the uranium nucleus has no charge, and therefore there is no repulsion of the neutrons taking place.

After that, nuclear fission will occur after a thermal neutron penetrates the uranium nucleus. This will then cause the uranium nucleus to split into lighter nucleuses of different elements as well as giving of several neutrons. After that, these neutrons cause more fission in other nucleuses of the uranium and these new neutrons released start a chain reaction. Basically what happens is as follows: U + N –> X + Y +ZN1 But however this is not all that takes place in a reaction, because moderates are required to control the rate of reactions as well as the critical mass needs to be taken in account.

The critical mass is the minimum mass required for a chain reaction to take place. The moderator is normally used in a reaction with graphite, and it actually just looks like blocks of pure carbon arranged in a stack. But what they actually do, is reduce the speed of the neutrons released from fissions until they slow down, or become thermal neutrons, which can then produce fission by colliding with the uranium nucleuses. Also another thing that controls the reaction, are control rods, and these rods are actual Boron-coated steel rods.

And what they actually do, is control the rate at which neutrons are produced, by lowering and raising the rods away from the reactors. Another very crucial thing in this process is the heat exchangers. What the heat exchange does, is that it turns the hot gas released from the reaction into steam. By having cold-water flow through pipes on which the hot gas heats these pipes to from steam. And this goes and drives steam-powered turbines, which in the end produce electricity. (Schematic0cross sectional drawing of a reactor).