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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

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