In various discussions on global warming, one of the keywords often mentioned is the "electrification" of energy systems. After entering the 21st century, "electrification" is also the development trend of many industry products, such as new energy vehicles, aerospace, high-speed railways, magnetic levitation, mechanical equipment (supporting electronic and electrical systems), and so on. What is electrification? What is "Qi" in electrification? Let's give you a detailed explanation today.

What is "electrification"?

The basic concept of electrification refers to the conversion of energy demand to electricity. Generally speaking, it refers to the use of electricity to slowly or completely replace oil or other forms of energy.

What is electricity? "Electricity is an energy source, similar to gas, oil, and coal, but different in that it is a secondary energy source that is transformed from other sources of energy, and the process of its transformation, transmission, and use is far more complex than primary energy.". Generation, transmission, transformation, distribution, and utilization of electricity, as well as the automation technology that runs through these links, constitute the content of the electrical discipline. Moreover, electricity is not only a source of energy, but also an information support carrier. This is also why we have become increasingly important in today's information and big data era. "Because in today's society, without electricity, it is impossible to disseminate information, run Internet servers, or conduct big data analysis.".

What is the "qi" in "electricity"? How to understand?

"Electrical" is a partial formal compound word composed of the root word "electricity" and the root word "gas", and "electrical" refers to gas with electrical properties; "Qi" in ancient Chinese philosophy usually refers to a very subtle substance; The theory of Qi in ancient China is similar to the theory of electric current in the West; In "Lun Heng", the philosopher Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty used the theory of Qi to explain the attraction of electricity and magnetism; The "Book of Natural History" translated by missionary Ma Gaowen in 1851 may be the earliest Chinese document to use the Chinese term "electricity"; The word "electrical" may be a literal translation of English electric fluid, which is a translation of electricity.

To understand simply, "gas" in electrical engineering can be said to be the main application method in the process of using electric energy.

Regarding "electrical", there are also some related words that non professionals may confuse, such as: electrical, power, electronics, and electrical appliances. So what's the difference between them?

1. Electrical: It is an abstract concept, not specifically referring to a particular device or device, but rather to the entire system and the scope of electronics, appliances, and power. Electronics, electrical appliances, and electricity all belong to electrical engineering.

2. Electric power: Electric power is the strong current part of electrical engineering, mainly studying the provision of electric energy (i.e., the generation of electric energy - power generation systems), transmission (power line transmission), and transformation (high and low voltage transformation, transformers, circuit breakers, and contactors).

3. Electronics: Electronics refers to the weak current part of electrical engineering, mainly studying the processing and transformation of information; Electronics can be divided into two parts: electronic circuits and electronic systems. Electronic circuits (electronic components: electronic components used to make circuit boards and electronic designs, such as diodes, transistors, silicon, and LED lights. Electronic components: an electronic functional device composed of a single or multiple circuit boards), electronic systems: systems composed of electronic devices, namely, weak current engineering systems.

4. Electrical appliances: Electrical appliances are specific equipment. Academic definition: Electrical equipment that automatically or manually switches on or off a circuit, continuously or continuously changes circuit parameters, and realizes switching, control, protection, detection, and adjustment of the circuit based on specific external signals and requirements is called an electrical appliance. Chivalrous electrical appliances refer to switches in the industrial field; In the civil field, electrical appliances refer to electrical equipment that consumes electricity (i.e., electrical equipment such as washing machines, televisions, and refrigerators).

To what extent will "electrification" ultimately reach in the future? We don't fully know yet. However, we are well aware that the electrification of products from different industries has greatly increased our labor productivity and improved our working and living conditions. Electrification is also promoting the vigorous development of the wire harness industry. In order to support more electrical and electronic systems, the development and manufacture of wire harnesses has become more diverse and complex, and better quality and safety are required.