Do All Materials Allow Electricity to Flow Through Them?

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Playing with a remote-controlled toy can be a lot of fun. But have you ever thought about how the wheels, propellers, and steering on those toys are controlled? The answer is electrical circuits!

  Video

An electrical circuit is a continuous path for charges and must contain a power source and a conductor.


Watch Electric Circuits to learn about the three basic parts of a circuit.

  1. a power source (a source of energized electrons, such as a battery)
  2. conducting wire
  3. a load. A load is anything that uses the energy in an electric circuit, such as a lamp or a motor.

Electric Circuits Video

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The electric circuits in a device may seem very complicated, but they are not. Circuits in electric devices are often on a circuit board, which is just a flat piece of material with metal pathways on it. Electricity flows in the pathways. If you look closely at a circuit board, you will see clearly the pathways of conductors.

  Try It Now!

Your First Circuit


  • Electricity kit items: lamp and lamp holder, 2 connecting wires
  • 1.5 v battery (AA or D cell)

Making your first electric circuit will be easy. All you need to do is make a loop! Start with one connecting wire. Connect one end of it to the lamp holder by attaching it to one of the metal clips. Connect the second wire to the other metal clip of the lamp holder. Now you have a lamp with two wires connected to it. Touch the free ends of the wires to the ends of the 1.5 V (AA or D cell) battery. What do you see?

What did I learn?

Likely, you discovered that both wires needed to be connected to the battery for the lamp to light up. That is because electricity will flow only if the circuit has a complete, unbroken loop.