electricity
Electricity is the flow of tiny particles called electrons and protons. It can also mean the energy you get when
electrons flow from place to place. Electricity can be seen in nature in a bolt of lightning. Lightning is
nothing but a large number of electrons flowing through air all at once, releasing a huge amount of energy.
Scientists have also learned how to generate, or create, electricity. This is useful because electricity that is
generated can be controlled and sent through wires. It can then power such things as heaters, lightbulbs, and
computers. Today electricity provides most of the energy to run the modern world.
How Electricity Works
Everything in the universe is made of tiny objects called atoms. Each atom has even tinier particles called
protons and electrons. These tiny particles swirl around each other continuously. An electron has what is
called a negative charge. A proton has a positive charge. Positive and negative charges try to pull each other
together. However, two positive charges, or two negative charges, will push each other away. Electricity
results when electrons are pushed and pulled from atom to atom.
Static Electricity
Most objects have a balance of positive and negative charges, so they are considered neutral. This means that
they do not push or pull on each other at all electrically. However, sometimes electrons can build up in an
object. Two such objects can push or pull on each other because they are no longer neutral. This push or pull
from extra electrons is called static electricity. Static electricity can cause interesting effects, like sparks or
lightning bolts, when it is released. Sometimes the extra electrons build up by rubbing one object against
another. For example, when one rubs a balloon against one’s hair, electrons move from the balloon to the
hair. Because the hairs then all have extra electrons, which all have the same kind of charge, they try to fly
away from each other and end up sticking into the air like spikes!.
Generating Electricity
Many moving electrons are called an electric current. A city’s power plant produces a powerful electric
current and sends it through wires. The electricity used for lighting, heating, and running appliances is made
by machines called generators. Generators cause a current to flow by moving a magnet past a coil of wire,
which pushes electrons through the wires of the coil. Wires carrying the current travel to houses and other
buildings. More wires connect to the power outlets in rooms. When a person plugs in an iron or another
electric device, the current travels into the device. The current then makes the device work. A chemical
reaction in a battery can also produce an electric current.
History
The ancient Greeks were the first to study electric forces. In the American colonies during the 1700s,
Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is a form of electricity. Scientists later learned that electricity is
related to magnetism. They then learned how to generate electricity using magnets.
Cite
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"electricity." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
<http://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/353091>.