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Understanding Electric Charge and Flow

Electricity occurs when electric charge flows as an electrical current, which is seen when electrons move from atoms with excess electrons to atoms with too few electrons. It can be generated naturally through lightning or static electricity, or artificially by passing a magnet near a wire, mixing chemicals in a battery, or rubbing materials together. Scientists have learned that electricity flows through matter like water and is caused by imbalances in the distribution of electric charge, which powers modern technology and infrastructure since being harnessed in the 19th century.

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41 views1 page

Understanding Electric Charge and Flow

Electricity occurs when electric charge flows as an electrical current, which is seen when electrons move from atoms with excess electrons to atoms with too few electrons. It can be generated naturally through lightning or static electricity, or artificially by passing a magnet near a wire, mixing chemicals in a battery, or rubbing materials together. Scientists have learned that electricity flows through matter like water and is caused by imbalances in the distribution of electric charge, which powers modern technology and infrastructure since being harnessed in the 19th century.

Uploaded by

jhonlandicho
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Electricity occurs when electric charge flows.

It is an energy source which we use to


power machines and electrical devices.
We see electricity when the number of electrons an atom has are either more than usual or less than
usual. If the electrons stay where they are, the atom that has too many or too few electrons will
attract or sometimes repel other atoms. If the electrons move from where there are too many to
where there are too few, then we will see a flow of electrons, an electrical current.
There is electricity in nature as well as electricity that is human-made. We see electricity in nature
as lightning, and as the way some things attract each other and stick together.
Scientists have found we can make electricity if we pass a magnet close to a metal wire, or if we put
the right chemicals in a jar with two different kinds of metal rods. We can also make static
electricity by rubbing two things, for instance a wool cap and a plastic ruler, together. This may make
aspark.
Scientists have observed that electricity can flow like water from one place to another, either as a
spark or as a current in a metal. They now know that all matter has an electric charge, but this is
mostly cancelled out by the presence of matter with an opposite charge. We only see an effect when
there is too much or too little electric charge in one place so that it is not cancelled out.
Since the nineteenth century, electricity has been used in every part of our lives. Until then, it was
just a curiosity or a force of nature seen in a thunderstorm.
People make most our electric energy in generators. The biggest generators are in power stations.
Some of our electricity comes from photovoltaic cells or from batteries

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