MUST-301 Lessons

Welcome back everyone! Today’s lesson will be a bit science-laden and theory heavy, so make sure to read over the details carefully. If you ever need further explanation or help, please feel free to let me know. Now let’s move forward learning about electricity!

Electricity is used by Muggles for all sorts of things - lights, entertainment, cooking, temperature control, you name it! It’s this force that is present in all Muggle homes to use in their daily life. Interestingly, it’s in your homes as well, even if you use magic often. What is it then? Electricity is a form of energy that is found in nature on its own, but has in recent years begun to have been harnessed by Muggles to simplify daily tasks. In the same way we use magic to clean dishes or have light in a dark room, Muggles use electricity to power devices that help them lead easier lives. The devices that use electricity power vary drastically, but the basic concept is the same. 

Think Positively

To understand how electricity works, we have to understand how the world works on a molecular level. But this is not a science course, so I’ll be brief! At a microscopic level, all things - you, me, and everything in between - is made up of tiny atoms. The atoms themselves are made up of even smaller particles. In the center of the atom is the nucleus, which is composed of neutrons and protons. Circling this nucleus are orbiting electrons, miniscule elements that are negatively charged. 

Electricity’s technical definition is “the flow of electric charge,” and these rapidly moving electrons are what actually make electricity. Negative electrons are attracted to positive particles, called protons, and often move at great speeds to connect with them. This happens all the time in daily life. For example, static electricity is the electrons of one object being attracted to the protons in another. Also, the lightning of a thunderstorm occurs when electrons in the cloud are attracted to the protons of the ground and quickly connect. The truly remarkable aspect is being able to capture this electric energy in a useful way.

The connection the electrons make to meet with protons is called a current. At its most basic, a current is when electrons travel quickly between many atoms and create energy along the way. When Muggles are using electricity to power their devices, they are using items that can house these currents. Electric currents flow through cords and cables, which gives energy to the object in question.

Electrical Inventions

So we now know the basics of what electricity is on a molecular level. How is this knowledge useful? How have Muggles used this knowledge to better their own lives? They have done so by inventing key technologies that radically improved their day-to-day existence.

A very important Muggle invention to cover today is the invention of the light bulb. As the name suggests, it supplies light when given electricity. The most famous inventor of the light bulb was a man named Thomas Edison, but there is cause to believe that the concept was also thought of by at least twenty other people beforehand. That said, Edison’s design from 1879 is the most well-known as his version was the most stable. The light bulb was a huge breakthrough in Muggle households because it lit up their homes, yes, but it meant that electricity could be used to power all sorts of things. 

Here’s how the light bulb works. The glass bulb is attached via a wire to a source of electricity (which is usually set up to come from the wall of all places!). Like most electrical appliances, the electrical energy is sent from its source through the wire to its intended destination. For a light bulb specifically, the electricity travels through this wire up to the metal base. Metal is nearly always a good conductor of electricity, which means electricity travels well through it. This is the opposite of an insulator, which would be a material that electricity has a hard time going through.

As electricity enters the light bulb’s metal base, it then travels up two wires. These traveling electrons get excited as they travel up to the tungsten filament of the top of the bulb. As the electrons bump against the tungsten, the wires begin to heat up. Tungsten is a special metal because as it heats up, light is emitted. In fact, the tungsten wire must heat up to an astounding 2200°C before light is visible to the eye! 

It is at this point that the bulb will be full of light which would allow Muggles and wizarding folk alike to see things in a dark room. Not all Muggle inventions can be used by witches and wizards, it’s true. However, light bulbs tend to be usable by magical people due to their insulation. If one were to touch a light bulb, it would be extremely hot, yes. However the outside is usually only 90°C. It is much cooler (relatively speaking!) than the hot filament thanks to insulation between the filament and the outside glass. As of which, this insulation also provides a buffer so magical energy does not easily interfere with the electric current inside of a lightbulb. It is not unheard of for a wizarding family to not use light bulbs though -- this is partially due to tradition, and perhaps in part for safety. If there are young witches and wizards in the house that have uncontrolled magical energy, even the most insulated light bulbs could, at the very least, not work…. And in the worst case scenario, explode.

Other electric inventions came rolling in shortly afterward, from the printing press to publish written texts more quickly, to the sewing machine which made fabric production much easier. Another important discovery was by Alexander Graham Bell, who worked with manipulating electric currents. If currents were manipulated at the exact right way, it could replicate the way audio works - that is to say, the current could carry sound. In 1876, Bell published the patent for a telephone, a device that allows two people to talk to each other even if they are not near one another. Think of it like the way two people can communicate with the Floo Network, only Muggles are not able to see one another while using a telephone.

While magical people have a way to communicate with each other over a long distance, we do it in a completely different way than Muggles do. I’d like to take a brief moment to explain how one uses a telephone, just in case you ever find yourself in the proximity of one. The device makes use of a microphone which you put up to your mouth, and an earphone which goes up to your ear. That way, you may be able to talk and listen freely. Nowadays, both the microphone and the earphone are connected to only one contraption, which makes the telephone very easy to use. You just have to remember to put the right side up to your ear! If you cannot hear very well, simply flip the object upside down. As for calling people, this works similarly to the Floo Network. However, instead of calling out a location, one must use the telephone’s number pad to dial in the recipient’s phone number. Think of it as typing in the “code” of the person you want to reach. You must acquire this code from your recipient before the call and memorize it, or perhaps write it down. 

Interestingly, Muggles have simplified the process of telephone communication even more in the most recent years. Traditionally, a Muggle household would have a single telephone for all the family members to use. But as Muggle technology has become more advanced, telephones have become easier to make and now essentially every Muggle adult will have a phone of their own so they can constantly be able to communicate. What’s even more amazing is that these phones have been able to become so small that they simply fit into one’s pocket! These phone devices are powerful enough to do other tasks now too, including play music, play games, even access a great deal of information in the blink of an eye… but that will be covered much more in depth in a whole lesson next year!  

Magic and Electricity

As we’ve covered, electricity was certainly an important step in the furthering of Muggle technology. This begs the question though, why don’t we use it much as a Muggles? If electricity can be the power source of so many different and interesting devices, why don’t witches and wizards use it more often?

Unfortunately, no one quite knows the answer to this. It seems as though our own innate magic makes it difficult for electrons to pass the way they should. When a magic user is near an electric object, it tends not to be able to get the power it needs, which suggests that the electrons are getting ‘stuck’ in some way. Why this is the case is currently a mystery, although it is a common area of research of witches and wizards that are interested in Muggle technologies. For those of us that have grown up around Muggles, you may have noticed that you can cause lights flickering or power outages if you were not careful with your spellwork. This is an example of how magic interferes with electricity. 

This is why the physical location of Hogwarts cannot have any electronics within its borders. Ultimately, one person cannot do too much to alter electric current or ‘break’ electric devices. But with the entire populace of the school practicing magic throughout the day, it would be impossible for currents to ever get where they need to go effectively. 

Some devices are exempt from this, such as cameras, because they are powered by batteries. Small devices like that seem to be less affected by the magic, but the reason why is unclear. One theory is that, while these devices may have a battery within them, that is not truly what powers the device. Instead, excess magical energy in the area will keep the device nice and charged. Another theory is that batteries do not make electrical currents in the way that we’ve discussed in this lesson, but instead by making a chemical reaction. This method of making electricity doesn’t seem to be as affected by magical interference, although more research needs to be done to be sure.

As you might expect, most Muggles do not have to worry about magical interference, so they are able to enjoy electric currents to power whatever device they’d like. Even if we disregard magic interrupting electric flow, witches and wizards would most likely not ever use electric devices, at least not often. Why? 

At the time of the invention of the light bulb as well as countless discoveries, these technologies were developed because the Muggle in question saw a problem that needed fixed. There was a lack of light at night time, so the light bulb was created; there was a need to talk to people that were far away, so the telephone was invented, etc. With magic, we haven’t had as many necessities like that. When there was a lack of light, a spell was discovered to fix it, not a separate device. So in a way, electricity is the magic of Muggles. In the same way as we’ve used magic to simplify our lives, so has electricity in the daily life of a non-magical person.

Conclusion

And I think that will be a good stopping point for today! I know we covered a lot of information in only your second lesson of the class, but it’s a good building block to understand the world of Muggles. To understand their own “magic” means you’ll be able to understand a lot of the technologies these people have developed that we will discuss later on. 

I only have a short quiz for you today to give you a bit of a reprieve from all of this reading. If you have any further questions, requests for clarification, or simply want to chat more about today’s lesson, please feel free to send me a message.

Sources:

https://www.wpclipart.com/science/atoms_molecules/atom/Atom_labeled_diagram.png.html 

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/electricity.html 

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/7623/IN-L2780.html

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Electricity  

https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/alexander-graham-bell 

https://www.replacements.com/p/franklin-mint-franklin-mint-giftware-alexander-graham-bell-telephone---no-box/co_frmmisg/83439031

https://web.archive.org/web/20060316221619/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=81

https://cdn.hswstatic.com/gif/light-bulb-label.jpg

https://home.howstuffworks.com/light-bulb1.htm