What electricity is
Electric current is loose electrons drifting along a wire, all through the loop at once. Voltage is the push. You turn the switch on and off, look inside the copper, and compare a battery with a wall outlet.
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What to try
- 1Start on Battery (DC) and set Zoom to Inside the wire. Each electron jiggles at random, and the voltage adds a slow drift toward the plus end.
- 2Set Switch to Off. The electrons still jiggle, but they stop drifting. None of them get used up.
- 3Pick Wall outlet (AC) and set Zoom to Inside the wire again. Now the electrons swing back and forth in place, and the lamp still lights.
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More visuals
- Why silver beats copperSome metals carry current better than others. Look inside silver, copper, gold, and aluminum and see how often their loose electrons bump into atoms.
- Inside an atomEverything is made of atoms. Count the protons in the center and the electrons around it, then take one electron away.
- Opposite charges attractTwo like charges push apart, and two opposite charges pull together. Bring the balls closer and the force gets stronger.