Electricity

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Electricity is an invisible force that can produce heat, light, motion and many other physical effects. The force is an attraction or repulsion between electrical charges. More specifically, electricity can be explained in terms of electrical charge, current, voltage, and resistance. the corresponding electrical units are the coulomb for measuring electrical charge, the ampere for measuring current, the volt for potential difference, and the ohm for resistance. A basic element of electricity is the electric circuit. A circuit is a closed path that allows for movement of charges. Current is the name given to the movement of charges. The study of electricity involves the behavior of charges, current and voltage with the components that make up the electrical circuit.

Polarity

All materials that are known contain two basic components of electric charge: the proton and the electron. The proton is a basic particle with positive polarity, and the electron is the smallest amount of electric charge having negative polarity. It is an arrangement of electrons and protons as basic particles of electricity that determines the electrical characteristics of substances. Although all matter has protons and electrons, most materials do not exhibit any evidence of electricity, because the number of protons and electrons are equal. The opposite electrical forces cancel each other out, and render materials like paper electrically neutral. In order to use electricity to do work, the protons and electrons must be separated. A battery can do electrical work because a chemical process separates electric charges to create an excess of of electrons at its negative terminal and conversely, an excess of protons at its positive terminal. With separate and opposite charges at two terminals, electric energy can be supplied to a circuit connected to the battery.