What is Electricity?

Electricity is one of the most useful element in our lives. "Electricity” reminds us of anything that we plug into an electrical outlet in order to make it work, such as lights, refrigerators, video games, microwaves, and computers

People use electricity in many ways , To lit ,  warm ,  cool, dry , cook etc . It would be difficult to picture what life would be like without electricity.

 
Electricity is generated in  power stations

Power plants make electricity by using coal, natural gas, uranium, water, or wind

Most power plants that burn fossil fuels.  Smaller amounts of electric energy comes from nuclear and hydroelectric (water power) plants.

Very little is made from renewable sources of energy such as solar cells and windmills. 

Electricity is generated at centralized power stations and then it travels a long distance through  transmission lines that run across countries. 

Houses,  offices  obtain electricity from smaller power lines .  The current runs through a meter that adds up how much electricity we  uses. 

The electrical current moves through the wires in the wall of our house to all of the switches

Electricity generated at nuclear power station

Facts About Electricity and Energy 

• Thomas Edison owned the first power plant ever!  The power plant opened in New York City in 1882.
• Thomas Edison invented the first long-lasting light bulb.
• Benjamin Franklin showed us that lightning is a form of electricity.
• The strength of an electric current is measured in volts
• The higher the voltage number, the more force there is pushing the electric current through the wire.

No waste of electricity means that we are using less of the earth’s non-renewable resources. Examples are oil, natural gas, uranium, and coal which are used to create electricity, once we use them up they are gone forever

Therefore, wasting electricity is not good for the environment

If we conserve electricity every single day, we can save lots and lots of money over time.  We can spend this money on other things that we need and want

Learning to use less electricity and to use it wisely today, will be helping ourselves in the future.