Crystal Junctions | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Duration: 5'46''

Synopsis

Jim Al-Khalili explores the race between scientists to create a reliable way to amplify electrical signals, and it was a breakthrough that came by accident.

Further Information

More clips from Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

3: Revelations and Revolutions | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

3: Revelations and Revolutions | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 59'04''

Jim Al-Khalili concludes by looking at how, if we could understand the secret of electrical supercon...

Electricity and the Atomic scale | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Electricity and the Atomic scale | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 3'09''

Jim Al-Khalili explores how Ernest Rutherford's work on the atom revealed what electricity was on ...

Electromagnetic waves | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Electromagnetic waves | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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Resistance | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Resistance | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 4'44''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how, as we made microchips smaller, the electrical feature of resistance was becoming more probl...

Semiconductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Semiconductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 2'44''

Jim Al-Khalili explores how JC Bose and his wave detector made use of crystals to conduct electricity.

Semiconductors and WWII | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Semiconductors and WWII | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 4'15''

Jim Al-Khalili explains the importance of semiconductors, particularly with regard to fighting WWII.

Superconductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Superconductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 3'01''

Jim Al-Khalili looks at how, in 1986, IBM researchers discovered a breakthrough regarding superconductivity in cera...

The race to prove Maxwell's theory | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

The race to prove Maxwell's theory | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 5'11''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how physics professor Oliver Lodge proved Maxwell's theory that electrom...

Valves | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Valves | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 2'21''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how William Crooks experimented with sending electrical currents through a vacuum.

More resources about Electricity

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1: Spark | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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Jim Al-Khalili tells how the first 'natural philosophers' began to unlock electricity's mysteries, studying its curious li...

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BBC Four | 2011 | 59'23''

Jim Al-Khalili shows how harnessing the link between magnetism and electricity transformed the world, allow...

3: Revelations and Revolutions | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

3: Revelations and Revolutions | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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Spec references J249: P3.2b J250: P3.2b. Circuit symbols - narrated slides.

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BBC Two | 2010 | 1'27''

A revision programme covering electricity.

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BBC Two | 2010 | 49''

Spec references J249: P3.2l, P3.2m J250: P3.2l, P3.2m . Description of electrical power, P = I V, watts and kilowatts. Narrated sl...

Electricity and the Atomic scale | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Electricity and the Atomic scale | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 3'09''

Jim Al-Khalili explores how Ernest Rutherford's work on the atom revealed what electricity was on ...

Electromagnetic waves | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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Jim Al-Khalili explains Michael Faraday's theory that any electrical charge can create a forcefield surroundi...

Electromagnets and telegraphs | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Electromagnets and telegraphs | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 4'03''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how an electromagnet works and how it paved the way for the birth of the tele...

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Electrostatics | GCSE Bitesize Revision

BBC Two | 2010 | 3'40''

Animated shorts to support students preparing for assessments in GCSE Additional Science.

Energy transfer in circuits | GCSE Bitesize Revision

Energy transfer in circuits | GCSE Bitesize Revision

BBC Two | 2010 | 4'33''

A revision programme covering electricity.

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Dr Helen Czerski explains how planes are protected from lightning.

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BBC Four | 2019 | 2'09''

Hannah Fry describes the first moment Nikola Tesla demonstrated the power of electricity.

Insulators and Conductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Insulators and Conductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 4'22''

Stephen Gray, a silk dyer, was used to seeing sparks leap from the silk so he began experiments conductin...

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