Learn bits
Science & Tech.
Mahesh

09/04/24 05:46 AM IST

Mosquito bats working

In News
  • As the winter months fall behind us and summer heat starts to rise, we have some visitors in our midst: the all-pervading mosquitos.
Working of Mosquito bats
  • The bat’s working principle is simple. There are three metal meshes.
  • The one at the centre is positively charged and the outer ones are negatively charged.
  • When the layers don’t touch each other, current can’t flow. But now when a mosquito connects them, a current passes through and kills the insect.
  • Essentially the mosquito receives an electric shock, just like we might if we were hit by lightning on a stormy night.
  • The mosquito bat is a portable thunderstorm for the mosquito.
  • The physics of sparks and lightning is the same, whether it’s in your gas lighter, in the belly of storm clouds, in the mosquito bat.
  • Electric current is carried by electrons, the negatively charged fundamental particles that usually revolve around positively charged protons in every atom.
  • Every atom has an equal number of protons and electrons, rendering them electrical neutral.
Batteries & Shocks
  • In any piece of metal such as copper, there is a large number of atoms but every atom also shares some electrons with other atoms.
  • The whole material still remains neutral but these common electrons can freely move from every atom to any other, and conduct current easily.
  • In an insulator, on the other hand, every atom holds onto its electrons and doesn’t share.
  • The air we breathe is a wonderful insulator – as are most of us.
  • This barrier can be torn down by applying a high voltage, which will force electrons out of atoms.
  • Suddenly, instead of a neutrally charged air, we have a gas made of positively charged atoms and negatively charged electrons floating together.
  • A battery generates electric force. How much electric force is generated depends on the battery’s volt value. Higher the voltage, greater the force.
  • These are strong enough to drive currents through clocks and phones but not strong enough to give humans electric shocks.
  • That’s why you don’t have to worry when holding them in your hand. On the other hand, the current supplied to our household appliances comes with a voltage of 220V, which is enough to electrocute us
  • The colour of the light and the spark depends on the type of atom. In fact, this emission can be thought of as an atom’s fingerprint – its unique identifier.
  • For example, in air, most of the atoms are of oxygen and nitrogen and so the sparks are white or near-white. On the other hand, on some alien planet with an atmosphere made of neon, the sparks will look red.
Source- The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

17 Sep

Reasons Behind the heavy rain in Uttarakhand, Himachal

'Dehradun and several other districts in Uttarakhand have experienced very heavy rainfall over the past few days, triggering landslides in multiple areas and causing rivers to swel

Read More

08 Sep

Rajasthan’s coaching centre Bill

'The Rajasthan Coaching Centres (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025, is a significant piece of legislation passed by the Rajasthan Assembly to regulate and oversee the state's burg

Read More

28 Aug

IADT-1

'Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out its first Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-1), a crucial milestone in the preparation for the countr

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps