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Electricity - Coggle Diagram
Electricity
Electric circuits
An electric current is several electrons that flow through a conductor like water flows through a tube
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Imagine this waterwheel. If you put it inside a pool, it is in water, but it doesn’t move. It needs a current of water to push it
Generators
A generator provides the energy necessary to move the electrons. It produces a continuous electric current
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A generator has two terminals: one positive (+) and one negative (-). When these terminals are connected with a conducting wire, electrons
move through the wire from the negative terminal to the positive terminal
The wires used in circuits are usually made of copper or aluminium, because these materials allow electric current to move easily
Even though electrons move from the negative terminal (-) to the positive terminal (+), we usually say that electric current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal
This happens because when scientists first studied electricity in the 1700s, they thought electricity was like a fluid that flowed from an area with more
electricity (positive) to an area with less (negative)
Receptors
In a circuit, the receptors are the components that transform electrical energy into another type of energy like heat, light, motion or even sound
The electrons leave the generator, taking the energy with them and move round the circuit until they get back to the opposite terminal
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Electric charge
The principle of electric charge explains why objects attract or repel one another. Electric charge is a property of all objects and is responsible for
electrical phenomena
Generalities
All matter is made of very small particles called atoms. We do not know exactly what they look like, but we have models of how we imagine them to be
We distinguish two parts, a nucleus and is
composed of protons and neutrons (positive and
neutral charge)
Orbiting around the nucleus and forming a cloud,
we find the electrons, with a charge equal to the
protons but considered negative
As such, matter is, in general, neutral, it doesn´t have electrical charge. This is because an atom of Helium has two protons and two electrons that cancel each other out
Sometimes, the electrons move and we have matter with more electrons and matter with more protons
Example
When you rub your pen with a cloth, the electrons come off the cloth and move to the pen, which becomes negatively charged. If you hold the pen close to a piece of paper, the electrons at the end of the paper closest to the pen are repelled to the other side
If you do the same experiment with
small pieces of paper, you will see
them “stick” to the pen
Electric current
In the previous example with the pen, the charges are at rest. They don’t move through the electrified material. This is called static electricity
As such, we define electric current as a continuous movement of electrons
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Electric current
In the previous example with the pen, the charges are at rest. They don’t move through the electrified material. This is called static electricity
As such, we define electric current as a continuous movement of electrons
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