Light Does Not Turn on One Must Essay

light does not turn on one must take several considerations in determining the cause of the situation. In order to figure out why the light is not turning on, analysis of the situation through the scientific method may be utilized. The first step is to pose the question of why the light does not turn on. Research must then be undertaken to determine the cause. In this instance, there are three different approaches that can be undertaken. The first is to determine if the light does not turn on simply because the light bulb has burned out; the second is to determine if the light does not turn on because there is no power in the house, and if there is no power in the house, is the outage contained solely to the house or is it there an outage on a larger scale, perhaps citywide.

The first hypothesis to be explored is that the light does not turn on because the light bulb has burnt out. In order to test this hypothesis, the light bulb must be changed. Also, consideration must be taken into account as to the status of other electric items in the house. If all is in order, then the light bulb should function correctly and the light will turn on once the light switch is engaged.

The second hypothesis rests on the belief that the light bulb does not turn on because there is a power outage that prevents the light from turning on. There are two explanations for why the light will not turn on due to a power outage. If this is the cause, then there may be two distinct reasons as to why the light does not turn on. The first is due to a short circuit within the system, and the other is a larger issue in which the power outage is not contained to the house, but rather is due to a problem with the power company, perhaps a blown transformer or a general power outage that affects others. In order to test the first of these variables, one can check the status of electricity in the home by attempting to check the status of the fuses in the fuse box. Once the fuses have been reset, then the light bulb should be checked once again. If the light bulb turns on, then the issue has been resolved. If not, then an underlying issue is still to be resolved. If the lights have not turned back on, and the power is out among all appliances in the home, then one should check to see if the outage is restricted to the home, or if neighbors are also experiencing similar problems. If neighbors are experiencing similar problems, then it can be concluded that the power outage affects others and that the electric company is working to resolve the issue. If the neighbors are not experiencing similar problems, then a call to the electric company may help to resolve the issue once all troubleshooting methods have been exhausted. Perhaps the power outage is due to the electricity bill not being paid. If this is the case, then the bill should be paid and power will be restored shortly ("Steps of the Scientific Method," 2011).

Part II

Science has infiltrated almost every aspect of everyday life. Scientific innovations are perpetually used from the time one wakes up until they go to sleep. Of the most used innovations electricity, computers, the Internet, cell phones, cars, and the electric cooking range.

The discovery of electricity has generally been contributed to Benjamin Franklin who in 1752 performed the famous kite-flying experiment. Though Franklin was the first to discover electricity, power still needed to be contained and generated. In 1800, Italian scientist Alessandro Volta created the first electric cell which led the way to the creation of the first battery ("History of Electricity," 2011). English scientist Michael Faraday was the first person to realize that passing a magnet through a copper wire could produce an electric current. This innovation led to the development of the electric motor and the electric generator, both of which are in use to this day. In 1879, Thomas Edison began to work on creating the first practical light bulb; he had difficulty finding an adequate filament that would make his invention feasible. The next issue was to provide electricity to the general public so that they could use his inventions.On September 4, 1882, Edison's Pearl Street Power Station in New York City provides power to 85 customers in the lower Manhattan area. At the time, customers were paying $5.00 per kilowatt-hour, which has fortunately dropped to approximately 11 cents per kilowatt-hour. Unfortunately, Edison's method of power distribution relied heavily on direct current and the Pearl Street station could only transport power within one square mile of the plant. In 1895, George Westinghouse opens a power plant at Niagara falls that utilizes alternate current and is able to transport electricity more than 200 miles ("History of Electricity," 2011).

Electricity also plays a major part in the process of cooking food, as well as preserving it. The electric stove is used multiple times throughout the day to prepare, cook, or heat up food. The first electric stove was patented in 1859 by George B. Simpson. The first "electric stove" was essentially a hotplate that was considered an "electro-heater" surface heated by a platinum wire coil that was powered by batteries to be used to "warm rooms, boil water, [and] cook victuals" (A Chronological History of Electrical Development, 1946). Thomas Ahearn invented the modern electric stove range in 1882. He first installed a prototype of the stove at the Windsor Hotel in Ontario and showcased his invention at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The electric stove range was slow to catch on because of the technology used and cities needed to be electrified for them to work.

The second most important scientific innovation on which I heavily rely on is computers and the Internet. The concept of computers was developed independently of each other in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. The Harvard Mark I was the first relay computer controlled by punch tape. IBM began to develop this technology in 1939 and completed it in 1940. This type of machine was based on a concept first introduced by Howard H. Aiken in 1937 ("The First Computers-Ideas, Concepts and Machines," 2011). At around the same time, relay computers were being developed at Bell Laboratories in New York. The technology utilized by these computers was based on a the suggestion of a mathematician named George R. Stibitz who wanted to improve the transmission quality of phone calls over long distances. During World War II, this technology was used for ballistic computations. Further developments led to the creation of the Model V which was designed for general applications 1937 ("The First Computers-Ideas, Concepts and Machines," 2011). These computers, unfortunately, did not store information. The first stored program computers were described in an EDVAC report by John von Neumann. The first two computers based on Neumann's architecture were built in Great Britain in 1848 with the United States dominating computer production thereafter, primarily using the technology for military purposes. By 1955, there were hundreds of computers being utilized. During this time, the computer industry took off as the machines were being used for business and scientific purposes.

Shortly after the innovation of the "modern" computer, the Internet began to develop. In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider, a scientist with MIT and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), proposed a "galactic network" of computers that could communicate with each other. By 1965, another MIT scientist develops "packet switching" which breaks down data into blocks, or packets, before transmission ("The Invention of the Internet," 2011). By the end of 1969, four computers, including ones at UCLA and Stanford, were connected to the ARPAnet; this network grew substantially during the 1970s. In 1971, Hawaii's ALOHAnet was added; in 1973, London University College and the Norwegian Royal Radar Establishment are added to the network. Vinton Cerf's development of transmission control protocol (TCP) allows computers on "mini-networks" to communicate with each other. Cerf's TCP transformed the Internet into a worldwide network. In the 1980s, researchers and scientists use this technology to send files and date from one computer to the another. In 1991, Swiss computer programmer, Tim Berners-Lee, introduces the World Wide Web and in 1992, students and researchers at the University of Illinois develop the first Internet browser, Mosaic. Mosaic allowed uses to view pictures and text on a single page for the first time and provided navigational tools such as scrollbars and clickable links. The World Wide Web became accessible to all people when Congress declares in 1992 that the web could be used for commercial purposes.....