Electricity Vocabulary

Electricity is a form of energy made up of protons, electrons and neutrons. Conductors are objects such as metal that allow electricity to flow freely through them. Insulators are objects such as wood that stop the flow of electricity. Protons are positive charges, Electrons are negative charges and Neutrons are neutral charges. Together they create electricity.

Electricity So Far

So far I have learned electricity is energy used for lights and to power objects. I learned electricity can be measured in volts, watts, or amps. I also know electricity can be harnessed many different ways. For example electricity is harnessed mainly through burning coal but there are also other ways such as nuclear,solar,hydro-power and windmills can also be used to harness electricity. That is what I know so far about electricity.

Van De Graaff

Today we learned about static electricity and we experimented with a Van De Graaff generator. The generator created a visible spark between the generator and a metal ball that was around the generator. The generator had many positive charges where as the smaller metal ball held around the generator had many negative charges. I believe it would be interesting to see how the size of the metal could affect the spark created. For example I want to see the affect on the spark if a paper clip is used instead of the smaller metal ball.

Insulators & Conductors

Insulators and Conductors share two main differences. An insulator does not let electrons flow through it freely. Whereas a conductor lets electrons flow freely through it. An example of a Insulator that I came across today was a pencil, the reason a pencil is an insulator is because it is made wood and all wood stops the flow of electrons. An example of a conductor I came across today was a soda can, the reason the soda can is a conductor is because it is made of aluminum which is a metal and all metals let electrons flow through them therefore they are conductors.