Electricity Vocabulary
Electric charge: The change obtained by an object as it gains or loses an electron
Positive: The charge when an electron is lost
Negative: the charge when an electron is gained
Static: stationary charges of electricity
Static Electricity: The build up of electrical charges
Electric Current: The flow of electrons from a negatively charged object to a positively
charged object.
Electric Discharge: When static electric charges “jump” off a charged object
Electric Circuit: The path along which electrons flow
Electromagnet: A temporary magnet made by passing an electric current through a wire coiled
around an iron bar.
Alternating Current: an electric current that reverses its direction at regular intervals
Direct Current: an electric current flowing in one direction only
Insulator: something that prevents electricity from passing through
Volt: a unit of electrical potential difference between two points in a conducting wire
Resistance: opposition offered by a body to the passage through it of a steady electric current
Electron: a particle in the space outside the nucleus of an atom that carries one unit of negative
electric charge
Electric power: a controlled electric current used to do work
Conductor: a substance or body that can allow electricity to pass through it
Parallel Circuit: an arrangement of the components of a circuit so that all positive terminals are
connected to one point and all negative terminals connected to second point, the same
voltage being applied to each component.
Electric Force: The direction and magnitude of electricity on a charged particle
Electric Field: The electric force on a particle due to presence other charged particle
Series Circuit: an end to end arrangement of the components so that the same current flows
through each component.
Electric Discharge: to rid an object of electricity