Anglais technique: electricity

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Electricity is the movement of charged electronic particles called electrons.
Moving electrons create the drama and power of a lightning strike. They also light up the room when you flick the switch.


A battery is a chemical device designed to create the force needed to move electrons. Conductors, usually metals like copper, provide a path for the electrons to flow on. Electrons have a negative charge - they travel out of the minus end of the battery and are attracted to the plus end.

Touch a metal conductor to both ends of the battery and electrons begin to flow from minus to plus.

Flowing electrons are called current. Current is measured in amperes.

The force moving the electrons is voltage and is measured in volts.

Never connect a short wire from minus to plus on any battery. This is called a short-circuit. The conductor gets hot, you might burn yourself, and the battery quickly loses energy.

The path that an electric current follows is called a circuit.

This circuit has a light bulb in it. To move electricity through the bulb, we complete the circuit by touching the metal wire to each end of the battery.

The wire does not get hot because the light bulb reduces the current flowing in this circuit.

Electric energy changes to light energy.

Slowing things down we can see that once the circuit is complete, an electric current appears, flowing from the minus end of the battery toward the plus end.

Look closely at the side of a typical AA battery and you will find a capital V or the word 'volts', preceded by a number, usually 1 decimal five Voltage, or volts is a measure of the force moving the electrons.

It is safe to touch an AA battery because one decimal five volts is a low voltage, not enough to give you a shock.

High voltage is dangerous. Never experiment with anything that plugs into a wall outlet.

Another important quantity related to electricity is current. Measured in amperes, current tells us the rate that electrons are flowing at.

Ampere is often abbreviated to 'Amps'.

Electrons are very tiny. 1 Amps means that this many electrons flow through the circuit per second. That's six hundred and twenty-four with 16 zeros - a huge number.

1 Ampere is the current flowing through a typical flashlight.

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