Name ________________________________
It’s Electrifying! Webquest
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY
1. What is electricity?
2.
3.
The first recorded references to static electricity and lightning were made over 2,500 years ago
by _____________________________.
What was most likely the source of the word “electricity”?
4.
______________and ______________ are natural forces that are very closely related.
PART II: BASICS OF ELECTRICITY (On the right hand side of the website, click on #8 “The Valence Shell”)
5.
Which subatomic particle is responsible for creating an electrical current? __________________
6.
In terms of electrons, how are conductors different from insulators?
Use for Parts I-III
https://www.ndeed.org/EducationResource
s/HighSchool/Electricity/el
ectricityintro.htm
PART III: CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS (Click on #13 “Conductors and Insulators”)
7. ______________ is considered to be a good conductor.
8.
Which type of materials are considered to be good conductors? ___________________
9.
___________________, ___________________and ___________________are also used as conductors.
10. Why is copper the most popular material used for wires? (2 reasons) _____________________________________________
and _______________________________________________________________.
11. Materials that do not let electrons flow very easily from one atom to another are called ___________________________.
12. Some common insulator materials are ___________________, ___________________, ___________________,
___________________ and ___________________.
PART IV: WHAT IS ELECTRICITY?
13. According to this site, what is electricity?
Use for Parts IV-XI
14. The 2 types of electricity are __________________________ & ___________________________.
15. Static electricity occurs when electricity ________________________________________________.
16. Current electricity occurs when electricity _______________________________________________.
PART V: STATIC ELECTRICITY
17. Static electricity often happens when __________________________________________________.
18. Rubbing a balloon against a jumpsuit gives it an ___________________________________.
http://www.explainthat
stuff.com/electricity.html
19. How does walking across a rug produce an electric shock?
20. __________________________ is a natural example of static electricity.
21. What causes a bolt of lightning?
PART VI: HOW STATIC ELECTRICITY WORKS
22. Electricity is caused by _____________________, the tiny particles that "orbit" around __________________.
23. Electrons have a ____________________ charge.
24. Why don’t atoms typically have an overall electrical charge?
25. Why would a balloon stick to you after it is rubbed against wool? (click the static electricity link)
PART VII: CURRENT ELECTRICITY
26. What causes an electric current?
27. Electricity stored in a battery is an example of ____________________, _____________________ energy.
28. What causes a battery to “die” (“run flat”)?
PART VIII: ELECTRIC CIRCUITS
29. What is required for an electric current to happen? __________________________________________________________
30. What is a circuit? ______________________________________________________________________________________
31. The components of a simple circuit include a ___________________, a ___________________ and a ___________________
linked together by ___________________.
32. What happens when you turn the switch ON? _______________________________________________________________
33. What happen if there is a break anywhere in the circuit? _____________________________________________________
34. What happens when you turn the switch OFF? _______________________________________________________________
35. A switch is sometimes called a ___________________________________.
PART IX: HOW ELECTRICTY MOVES IN A CIRCUIT
36. What makes copper a conductor and rubber an insulator?
37. Conductors have ___________ conductance &___________resistance; insulators have ___________ conductance &
___________ resistance.
38. Inside the box, draw and label the diagram of an electric circuit.
PART X: ELECTROMAGNETISM
39. What is an electromagnet?
40. How do scrapyards use electromagnets?
41. Electromagnets show that electricity can make _______________________.
42. An ________________________________is a machine that turns electricity into mechanical energy.
PART XI: MEASURING ELECTRICTY
43. _________________ describes the electrical force that makes electricity move through a wire; measured in ______________.
44. More current flows through batteries with higher ___________________. (Example: a 12-volt car battery produces more
current than a 1.5-volt flashlight battery.)
45. ___________________ does not go anywhere or "flow through" things.
46. An _______________________, a steady flow of ___________________is what moves through the wire in a circuit.
47. Electrical current is measured in _____________________ (or _______________).
48. Together, voltage and current give you ___________________________.
49. Electric power is measured in units called _________________. (1 watt uses 1 ____________ of energy each __________.)
50. The standard unit used to describe how much power an electric appliance uses over time for is called ___________________
(_____________); 1 kilowatt hour is equal to _____________________joules (J) of energy.