What is electricity?
Electricity is a form of energy that can be
converted into heat, light, mechanical energy, or other forms of power.
Electricity can create magnetic fields and electric currents and these
properties are used in many modern devices today. For example, one common use
of electricity is to charge a device like an iPhone by connecting it to an
outlet with a USB cord. The power from the outlet converts the chemical energy
stored in gas or coal into electrical energy which can then be used to power
electronic devices like cell phones, laptops, and televisions.
Voltage, or electromotive force, measures a
difference in electric potential between two points. This difference causes an
electrical current to flow through a conductor that has been placed between
these two points. Voltage can be measured using a simple voltmeter and it is
used as part of Ohm's law which allows for the calculation of current and
resistance based on voltage.
Voltage - Third Paragraph: The SI unit for measuring
voltage is named volt after Alessandro Volta, who created one of the earliest
batteries in 1799 that led to more widespread use of electricity. In scientific
contexts, other units like volts per meter (V/m) are often used because they
have become standard due to their simplicity in terms of practical applications
such as power transmission systems and distribution grids.
What are Voltage, Current, and Resistance?
Voltage, current, and resistance are all important
concepts in electricity. Voltage is a measure of the difference in charge
between two points on a circuit. Current measures the flow of electricity
through a circuit. Resistance is how easy it is for current to flow through a
material. When you flip a light switch, for example, you close the gap in an electrical
circuit that allows electrons to flow from one end of the line to the other,
providing enough voltage and current to light up a bulb. This can happen
because the copper wire has lower resistance than rubber insulation so it takes
less power to send electrons through this material than through rubber
insulation.
The terms electrical and electrical power are
sometimes used to describe electricity. The electrical aspect of electricity
refers to voltage, current, and resistance. Electrical power, on the other
hand, refers to a device’s ability to use electricity. For example, a light
bulb uses electrical power while a battery stores it. Other examples of devices
that use electrical power are calculators, remote controls, and televisions.
Simple Electrical Circuits
Electrical circuits are just a collection of
electrical components hooked together to work together. The most common
components are light bulbs, batteries, wires, and switches. Circuits are either
closed or open. Closed circuits have a complete flow of electricity while open
circuits have no flow of electricity. The first thing you need to do to make an
electrical circuit connects the positive terminal of a battery to the negative
terminal using a wire. This will create an open circuit that has no flow of
electricity because there's no way for electrons to get from one terminal to
the other- nothing is connecting them! You can fix this by connecting the
positive and negative terminals with another wire which would create a closed
circuit and allow electrons to flow freely between the two terminals.
AC and DC Power
AC power, which stands for alternating current, can
be generated in two ways. One way is through a turbine generator that uses the
mechanical energy of turning blades to spin a magnetized rotor inside a
stationary core (the armature). This rotation creates an electric field that
alternates as the rotor turns. The other way to create AC power is with an AC
generator, which consists of one or more coils of wire that turn inside a
magnetic field. When the voltage from the electric company powers the coils,
they generate electric fields just like those created by a turbine generator -
except these fields periodically reverse direction and change polarity.
DC power, which stands for direct current, typically
comes from an external source such as solar panels or batteries.
Conclusion
There are many simple explanations of electricity
and its use available on the internet, but none quite like what we have written
here. While you should always look up more detailed sources if you’re curious,
keep in mind that electricity was discovered long before anyone knew what atoms
were. As a result, it can be difficult to understand without a decent
explanation of how atoms work. You might start by looking at some diagrams of
atoms if that seems interesting and also looks like something that could help
you better understand electricity’s fundamentals. Our hope in writing up such
an explanation was to combine an introduction to elementary atomic science with
an overview of how electrical currents work and when we need them to work for
us.