What is electricity?
How do we use electricity?
Everything is made up of tiny particles. These particles may have positive or negative charges. Electricity is the presence or flow of these charged particles.
All materials contain negatively-charged particles called electrons. In metals, electrons can move freely, so metals can carry electricity. This is called being a conductor. If there is a complete circuit a battery can push electrons all around the circuit. This is an electric current. We use electric currents to control and operate devices, including phones, computers and light bulbs.
Some materials do not let electrons move through them – they are insulators. Most things that are not metals, like plastic, wood and rubber, are insulators.
Think about rubbing a balloon on your jumper. The balloon and jumper are both insulators, but they are made of different materials. When you rub them, electrons go from the jumper to the balloon, so the balloon gets negative charge. This is called static electricity. If you touch the balloon, you might get an electric shock, because the charge goes through you to the ground.
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