Electrical Energy

What is electricity?What is a circuit?

What are conductors?What are insulators?

How can electricity produce light, heat, and sound?

How are electromagnets made and used?

What is electricity?

Electricity is a a form of energy that is produced by the movement of electrons or other atomic particles. It is basically a current moving through a material. Electricity travels through a conducting material because the electrons in the atoms of that material line up and help carry the electrical charge through the material.

Where does electricity comes from? You might be surprised to learn that it comes from magnets! There is a definite link between the phenomena of electricity and magnetism. A generator that creates electricity is simply a device that moves a magnet near a wire to create a steady flow of electrons.

What is lightning?

Electricity in a natural, uncontrolled state can be seen as lightning, which is caused by the imbalance of charged particles inside and around cumulonimbus clouds.

What is an electric circuit?

An electric circuit is a closed path that electricity can flow through. An electric circuit can be created when the positive and negative contacts of a battery are connected by conducting wires to a light bulb or motor.

What are different types of circuits?

Simple

Series

Parallel

Parallel and Series

What are conductors?

Electricity can only pass through a material that can allow electricity to pass through it. Some materials, called conductors, allow electricity to pass through them well. Inside the atoms that make up these materials, the electrons are free to move and line up to conduct electricity. Conductors include water and metals like copper and aluminum.

This picture shows that gaps in the electron’s path

through the atom makes it harder to move, so

more energy is needed to move electrons through some materials. If a lot of energy is needed, the material

doesn’t conduct well.

What are insulators?

Materials called insulators do not allow electricity to pass well. Insulators include plastic, rubber, and wood. So, copper wire is covered with plastic, so the electricity travels where you want it, and not to you!

How can electricity produce light, heat, and sound?

Electrons conduct electricity by moving around in their atoms. Moving electrons have energy. As the electrons move from one point to another in their atoms, they can do work, such as producing heat and sound or releasing photons of light.

How can a light bulb produce heat and light?

When electricity moves through a filament in a light bulb, light and heat are created.

How can electricity produce sound?

Electromagnets are used in audio speakers to produce sound. In the speaker is a magnet with a coil wrapped around it. This coil is attached to the cone of the speaker. When the the coil moves, it creates vibrations in the air which produce sound.

How are electromagnets made and used?

An electromagnet has magnetic properties only when an electric current is applied to it. The simplest electromagnet is a coil of insulated wire. The wire becomes magnetized when an electric current runs through the wire.

How can electricity create motion?

An electric motor uses magnets to create motion. If you have two bar magnets, like poles attract and unlike poles repel. Inside an electric motor, these attracting and repelling forces create rotational motion.

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