What is Electricity?     


Pixabay  -- Electron flow is a lot like the flow of water that tries to find the easiest path to move. 

Current Electricity

Have you ever put dominoes in a line and touched the first one? When it falls, each domino ahead of it falls. This is like the movement of negative charges along a path.

Current electricity is produced when negative charges (electrons) move along a path (circuit).

The steady flow of electrons between objects or places is a current.

Both static and current electricity move electrons. 

  • Electrons in static electricity move at random when they are rubbed.  

  • Electrons in a current move in order.  

Pixabay- A good conductor is copper wire.
For flow to happen, the electrons need a conductor. This is a substance that allows electrons to move easily through it. Electrons flow easily through metals. 

The flow of electrons through a conductor creates energy.
 
A battery has potential energy.

There are two types of energy: potential and kinetic energy.

Potential energy means energy that is stored somehow for use in the future.

Kinetic energy means the energy does something (work) because it's moving.


When electricity gathers in one place, it has the potential to do something in the future.


  • A cloud gathering an electron charge is potential energy. 
  • Or, electricity stored in a battery is another example of potential energy.
  • A stretched rubber band or slingshot has potential energy.
 
Potential energy becomes kinetic energy when the charge is released.


  • A flying rock or elastic band has kinetic energy.
  • Lightning  is kinetic energy because it moves from one place to another. 
  • Or, you can use the energy in the battery to power a flashlight and give off light. All the time the light is switched on, kinetic energy is flowing from the battery to the lamp. Over time, the energy stored in the battery is gradually turned into light (and heat) in the lamp. 
  • A current moving through a wire is also kinetic energy.


  Video

Watch Bill Nye's video on energy here. 

Or, view this video on the different types of energy.  Note, we pronounce the word kinetic with a short i sound as in kin. 
 

Electrons flowing through wires and devices can turn the electrical energy they carry into other forms, such as sound, heat, motion, and light. This is the electricity that we use in our homes.