What is Electricity?

Electricity is a natural force of

nature that did not need to be invented,
but it did need to be discovered and
understood. Benjamin Franklin was the
man that took the first steps towards
understanding this natural phenomena
by speculating that nature was made up
of positive and negative elements. He
argued that charges would move from a
positive source to a negative source. To
prove this, on June 10th, 1752 he decided
to fly a kite with a metal key connected at
one end during a thunderstorm.
Lightning striking the kite confirmed that
electricity was actually the result of
moving electrical charges, and that
lightning was a form of electricity.

Today we know that electricity is a form of energy transfer resulting from the
movement or storage of charged particles such as protons or electrons. Franklin
didn’t know about the existence of protons or electrons, so he thought that electrical
current would travel from positive to negative. This was the best explanation of
electricity until 1897 when J.J. Thompson discovered the electron, and realized that it
was actually the electrons moving in a wire, not the positively charged protons. Today
we still use this notation when we think about electricity, but it is important to note
that since then we have learned that the electron (negatively charged) is
considerably smaller than the protons. As a result of this we see that it is actually the
electrons moving, and not the protons. When we discuss the electrons moving we
use the term “electron flow.” This can be demonstrated in the circuit below.
Electrical Potential

Electrical current is the result of some charged particles being at a higher

electric potential than another location. Charged particles like to move from areas of
higher potential to lower potential. This difference in electrical potential is the driving
force for electricity and is known as the voltage. Below is a picture of a water tower.
The taller the water column, the larger the potential difference in pressure from the
top to the bottom. As water flows out of the water tower, the column of water will get
shorter and the difference between the top and the bottom will decrease. As a result
of this we will see the water flowing out of the tower at a slower rate. The flow water
is known as the current, and is symbolic of how electrons move producing electrical
current. If something blocks the tube where the water can flow, or if there is a
narrow hole that the water can pass through there will be opposition to the flow. This
is known as the resistance. Resistance, a measure of the opposition to current flow in
an electrical circuit, is measured in ohms.
Ohm’s law
In 1827 a German scientist by the name of George Ohm published his findings
that looked at exploring the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance.
Today this relationship is known as “Ohm’s Law,” and it states that voltage= current x
resistance.

V=I*R

Example 1: if you knew that 10 amps was running through a wire with 5 ohms of
resistance, there would have to be a 50 volt source.

Example 2: Modern day refrigerators use about 4.5 amps and operate at 120 volts. To
find the resistance for the wire/motor in the refrigerator we can rearrange Ohm’s Law
and solve.

𝑉 120 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑅= 𝐼
= 4.5 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠
= 26. 6 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠
Example 3: A 60 watt light bulb operates normally when 120 volts is applied. If there is
240Ω of resistance in the light bulb we can calculate the current to be about 0.5
amps.

𝑉 120 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝐼= 𝑅
= 240Ω
= 0. 5 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠

Resistivity
Electrical resistivity, represented by the Greek letter ρ (rho), is a measure of
how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current. The lower the resistivity,
the more readily the material permits the flow of electric charge. In the table below
you can see very low resistivity for the conductors and higher values for insulators.

Conductive ρ (Ω•m) at 20 °C Insulative ρ (Ω•m) at 20 °C

Material Resistivity Material Resistivity

Silver 1.59×10−8 Distilled Water 1.8x 105

Copper 1.68×10−8 Glass 10×1012

Gold 2.44×10−8 Hard rubber 1×1013

Aluminum 2.82×10−8 Air 2x1016

Resistivity is an innate property of matter, when combined with the gauge of the
wire (thickness) and
the length of the wire
you can figure out how
much electrical
resistance you will
have. Generally
speaking, the thinner
the wire, the higher
the resistance.
Circuits

The circuit above illustrates how we can use Ohm’s Law to help explain
electricity. The electrical current leaves the positive terminal of the battery (yellow)
and tries to make its way to the negative terminal (black). This particular battery has
a potential difference of 9.0 volts from each terminal. As a result of this potential
difference electrical current will flow through the closed circuit by traveling through
the wires, then the ammeter, and then the resistor before returning to the other side
of the battery.
 We can use the ammeter (device to measure electrical current or amperage)
to see a steady flow of current at 0.9 amps. Next we can use the voltmeter to
measure the voltage across the resistor in this circuit. The voltmeter currently reads
-9.0 volts, but if you reverse the leads it will read a positive 9.0 volts. Using Ohm’s Law
we can determine the resistance of the resistor. This particular resistor is
brown,black,black and should have a value of 10 ohms. 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 * 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝑉 9 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 * 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 −−> 𝑉 = 𝐼 * 𝑟 −−> 𝑟 = 𝐼
= 0.9 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠
= 10Ω

The image above has the same circuit but with a switch added. When the
switch is “open” notice that the electrical current turns to zero. This is known as an
open circuit, and will not give a proper pathway for the electrical current to flow. In
the lower picture the switch is closed and this will allow the electrical current to flow.
Because of this basic idea we can say that a circuit is “open” if there is a wire not
properly connected or if there is only one wire connected to an electrical component.
Schematic Diagrams
To help make things easier to discuss, scientists and engineers use what is
known as a schematic diagram to help discuss electrical circuits. The schematic for
this circuit is shown below. The battery is represented by the two parallel lines in the
red box, where the large line represents a positive voltage and the negative is the
shorter line. The resistor is represented by the spikey lines in the yellow box, and the
switch is in the green box.

Schematic diagram is above and the actual circuit is shown below

By double clicking on the resistor the resistance can be changed. The resistor in the
simulation is replaced with a brown, black, brown resistor (100Ω). This increased the
resistance by a factor of ten, and as a result the current went from 0.9 to 0.09 amps,or
ten times smaller.
Lamps
Instead of just using resistors, we can use a lamp to help visualize what the
electrical energy is doing. The lamp on the left is using a lightbulb with a resistance
of 10Ω, and the lamp on the right has 100Ω of resistance. Both of these lamps are
connected to identical 9 volt sources. Notice that the bulb on the left is much
brighter with more light being emitted than the one on the right.

Circuit A Circuit B

To help explain this we need to discuss the idea of electrical power, measured in
watts. Power is equal to voltage x current. Power is measured in watts.

Power of light bulb A = 0.9 amps * 9 volts = 8.1 watts

Power of light bulb B = 0.09 amps* 9 volts = 0.81 watts

What this demonstrates is that as the resistance of

a light bulb increases the electrical current will
decrease, and hence it will emit less light.

Continuing our analogy of using water to describe

electricity, think of power as the water actually
coming out of the hose, it is what is actually being
used. The amount of water leaving the hose can be
thought of as the amount of energy being used in
the circuit.
Series Circuits

For the next two examples we will be revisiting both series and parallel circuits. We will be using
an orange, black, black (30Ω) in series with a blue, black, black (60Ω). Recall that in a series
circuit the total amount of resistance is the sum of adding the individual resistances together.

Total resistance = 30Ω + 60Ω = 90Ω

Since the battery is a 9 volt source we will see the 9 volts being displaced over both of the
resistors. Notice that the current is the same through both of the resistors. This is because
there is only one way for the current to flow, and an equal amount will flow through each part.

We can apply ohm’s law to calculate the voltage across both

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒30Ω = 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡30Ω * 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒30Ω = 0. 1 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠 * 30Ω = 3 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒60Ω = 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡60Ω * 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒60Ω = 0. 1 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠 * 60Ω = 6 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠

We know that voltage in series is cumulative so 3 volts + 6 volts = 9 volts = battery voltage.
Parallel Circuits

For a parallel circuit we know the voltage across both of the resistors will be
the same. So in this case there is 9 volts being applied across both resistors. The
current splits into two different pathways at what are called nodes and are shown
with the two red dots in the picture above. Because the wire divides up, the current
splits. To find the current coming from the battery we need to add both of the
batteries currents together since they split apart.

𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 0. 3 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠 + 0. 15 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠 = 0. 45 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑠

Electrical Current
When you flip on the light switch on your house, you notice them turn on almost
immediately, so how fast do the electrons travel through your house. Well this is actually a fairly
complicated question with a lot of different factors.

Two types of current:

●​ Direct Current (DC) ~ A dc circuit uses electricity that flows from the positive terminal to the
negative terminal and is the type of current we will be working with.
○​ This is very convenient to use for motors, lights, LED, and batteries
○​ For a DC circuit that uses a 12 gauge wire and transporting 10 amps of current
2.5 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡
will have a speed of only about one half of one inch every minute ( ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
)
○​ Because of the larger currents moving through, a lot of energy is lost from heat
as the electrons crash into atoms.
●​ Alternating Current (AC) ~ This is a current that alternates back and forth
○​ We can manipulate the voltage and current using transformers to transport
electricity over long distances without losing a tremendous amount of of power
○​ There is no net movement of the electrons, they just wiggle back and forth
Neither types of energy show an impressive speed, so why do the lights turn on so fast. It turns
out that the electric fields that drive the voltage move at the speed of light, so when you flip the
switch on the field travels through the wires at the speed of light.

To convert from AC to DC for a lot of electronics such as your computer and cell phone
charger you need to use a rectifier. A rectifier is a fairly advanced circuit that uses a combination
of diodes and capacitors to go from the ac signal in the wall to a dc signal that most electronics
use to charge their batteries.