The dynamo is an electrical generator that produces direct current using a commutator. It was first used for industry, but was quickly replaced by other generators due to inefficiencies. It is based on Faraday’s law of induction and was the first commercially useful electric generator.
Dynamo is a word that once simply meant an electrical generator, but today refers to a generator that produces direct current (DC) using a commutator, an electrical switch that generates electricity by the force of a rotating rod. Like any other generator, its purpose is to produce electricity from mechanical power. The source of the mechanical energy could be a dam, a windmill, or a coal- or oil-fired power plant, the latter being the more common. Dynamos were quickly replaced by other electric generators due to the advantages of alternating current (AC), commutator inefficiencies, and solid-state methods of converting alternating current to direct current.
One of the simplest and oldest electric generators, the dynamo was first used to generate power for industry. Famous inventor Thomas Edison believed that the future of electricity would be based on direct current, but it turned out that his eccentric rival, Nikola Tesla, was right and that electricity would be based on alternating current instead of direct current. effectively condemning the dynamo to demonstrations in high school science class.
The dynamo is basically based on Faraday’s law of induction, which states: “The induced electromagnetic force or EMF in any closed loop is equal to the rate of change of the magnetic flux connecting the loop.” Essentially, this means that a current in a closed loop can be induced when a mechanical force is applied against the magnetic field connecting the loop, as in a generator, or vice versa, as in a motor. The first one based on Faraday’s law was built in 1832 by the French luthier Hippolyte Pixii.
This generator brought the first steps in the use of electricity in industry. Larger and larger ones were built, connected to each other in a series. The dynamo was not only the first commercially useful electric generator, but also one of the first engines, discovered by accident. Today it is primarily remembered as a simple device on which later, more complex electrical devices such as the electric motor, AC alternator, and rotary converter were based.
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