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CLASS 10
Fossil Fuels
In ancient times,Wood was the most common source of heat energy
The exploitation of coal as a source of energy made the industrial revolution
possible. But these fuels were formed over millions of years ago and there are only limited
reserves. The fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy, so we need to conserve
them. If we were to continue consuming these sources at such alarming rates, we would
soon run out of energy! In order to avoid this, alternate sources of energy were explored.
But we continue to be largely dependent on fossil fuels for most of our energy
requirements
1) SOLAR COOKER
v
A black body is a good absorber of heat radiation. Thus, the purpose of the blackened
surface is to absorb the maximum amount of heat and to minimize heat loss due to
reflection.
Glass cover plate The purpose of glass cover plate is to trap heat radiation. It possesses
the property of selective transmission of heat radiation. It allows infrared radiation of
short wavelengths to pass through it, but reflects infrared radiation of long wavelengths.
So, solar radiation, which passes through the glass, heats up the surface inside the solar
cooker. These warm surfaces radiate heat. Since these surfaces are at much lower
temperature than the sun, this radiation mainly consists of long wavelength infrared
radiation. The glass walls reflect these and thus heat is trapped inside the solar cooker.
Thus, the glass cover placed on the box, produces a kind of greenhouse effect
.
ReflectorReflector{Mirror} Its main purpose is to increase the effective area for the collection
of solar energy.If a plane mirror is replaced by a concave mirror, then solar energy can be
concentrated from over a large area into a small area
2 ) SOLAR CELL
(a) A solar cell is a device which converts solar energy directly into electricity.A typical
solar cell consists of a 2 cm square piece. A 2cm x 2 cm single solar cell can produce
about 0.7 watt of electricity
(b) Silicon and selenium are two materials used for fabricating solar cells. Silicon is best
suited for making solar cells as its efficiency is higher than that of selenium. .
(c) Silver wire is used to connect solar cells in a solar panel, because silver is the best
conducting material. If some other metal is used then a substantial fraction of
electricity generated by solar cells will get used up in overcoming the resistance of
the connectors as solar cells already have low efficiency.
(d) Advantages
(i) The principal advantages associated with solar cells are that they have no moving
parts, require little maintenance and work quite satisfactorily without the use of
any focusing device.
(ii) They can be set up in remote and inaccessible hamlets or very sparsely inhabited
areas in which laying of a power transmission line may be expensive and not
commercially viable.
Disadvantages
(i) Availability of the special grade silicon for making solar cells is limited.
(ii) The entire process of manufacture is still very expensive. Silver used for interconnection of
the cells in the panel further adds to the cost.
The two uses of solar cells are:
(i) In spite of the high cost and low efficiency, solar cells are used for many
scientific and technological applications.
(ii) It is used in used in artificial satellites and space probes
(iii) Radio or wireless transmission systems or TV relay stations in remote locations
have solar cell panels.
3) NUCLEAR ENERGY
A) Nuclear fission: In this process the nucleus of heavy atom (such as uranium, plutonium)
when bombarded with low energy neutrons split into lighte nuclei with the liberation of large
amount of energy.
This energy can be controlled & converted into electricity in the nuclear
power plant
B) Nuclear fusion: In this process the two light weight nuclei combine to form
a stable heavier nucleus with the liberationof large amount of energy.
The conditions for the occurrence of a nuclear fusion reaction are:
(a) Temperature of fusing nuclei should be raised to 107 K.
(b) Fusing nuclei be accelerated to high speeds using particle saccelerators.
Advantages of nuclear energy system over fossil fuel energy system.
(i) On equal mass basis, nuclear energy system produces more energy than fossil fuels.
(ii) Nuclear energy systems consume very little fuel. Once loaded, a nuclear reactor operates for
years together. Fossil fuel systems need a few hundred tons of coal everyday.