What is electricity?
Above - An atom with electons in orbit around the nucleus - the blue sphere is a free electron.
Source: Western Power’s World of Energy.
Everything on earth is made up of matter and matter is made up of atoms.
(See figure above). Within these atoms are smaller, electrically charged, moving particles called “electrons”. The movement of these electrons creates electricity. In other words, electricity exists all around us in the world we live in and within our own bodies.
Even the air we breathe is made up of atoms. Atoms are so tiny that it takes many millions of them to form a single speck of dust. It takes millions of billions of moving electrons to light up a torch for one second. Simply, electricity can be described as a flow of electrons - a powerful, invisible force. Like water, this flow can be channelled from place to place where it is needed.
Some substances - especially certain metals - have atoms, which allow the free flow of their electrons. The amount of electrons flowing from atom to atom is what we know as an electric current. Metals have these free-flowing electrons and are therefore said to be good conductors of electricity. Copper and aluminium are particularly good conductors; that is why these two metals are the ones most commonly used in electrical wiring. (See figure below)
Source: Western Power’s World of Energy.
 Next Section >> How is electricity produced?
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