BASIC ELECTRICITY

In this series of Basic Electricity, we will have a look on

~AMPS

~VOLTS

~OHMS

~WATTS

At first, we'll know about AMPS or AMPERE; 

"AMPERE" or "AMPS"

We know that everything in the universe is made up tiny particles known as atoms. A simplified model of an atom looks something like this; 

It consists of the positively charged center called as the 'NUCLEUS', and have negatively charged electrons orbiting around it.

The terms positively charged and negatively charged are arbitrary and the most important thing to know is that Opposite charges attract each other and similar charges move away from each other. So the positive nucleus of the atom attracts negative electrons and if electrons get close to each other they'll push each other away.

In most solid materials just sit there inside the material and not move around as the are tightly packed in a solid. But in metals like copper, the electrons have the ability to move around. The positive nuclei stay in the same place preserving the structure of the metal. But the electrons can Drift(move) around from atom to atom. Since the negatively charged electrons repel each other when you move one electron from atom to atom, you will also move the other(adjacent) electron from atom to atom. 

Let's say we have a wire which is one atom thick as shown above, you know this is simplifying things to the maximum level by showing one electron per atom. Then let's say we force the first electron in line to jump to the second atom in line, the electrons will all push each other around at the same time.

In order to understand it in a literal way the movement of electrons which are free in an atom are pictorially represented below.

Even though each electron is only jumping a tiny distance, this overall flow happens close to the 'SPEED OF LIGHT'.! And that's what basically the flow of electricity is. When electrons are flowing through something we can say that electric current is flowing. Now how do we measure electric current...???

You would've probably heard of the term 'amp' which is a short form of 'Ampere'. An Ampere refers to the amount of electrons flowing per second through anything that conducts electricity. The equivalent value of 1 ampere is given by;

These numbers are not necessary to memorize but we must understand that the electrical current refers to the amount of electron flow and that one ampere means a lot of electrons are flowing and obviously two amperes means twice the electrons are flowing. For further more easy understanding the analogy of water flowing through a pipe can be compared to the electron flow through a wire.

Now in having understood the terms 'AMPERE', 'ELECTRON FLOW' and 'CURRENT' now we can further proceed on discussing Electrical Circuits.

ELECTRIC CIRCUIT is a closed loop through which current could flow around. The electron flow in an electric circuit can be well understood by understanding the simple circuit given below

 In this example of a light bulb, electrons can flow out from the battery through the copper wire through the light bulb through another piece of wire and to the other side or terminal of the battery. Always remember when the current flows through any loop the electrons(all of them) are moving at the same time. And over here the negative terminal of the battery pushes the negative electrons away and those electrons are pushing other(adjacent) electrons away. This keeps happening throughout the circuit allowing energy to be transferred from the battery to the light. But, if u get to cut one of the wire or anywhere on the wire;

As shown in the figure you would no longer have a complete circuit, as we should know that electrons cannot jump through the air from wire to wire, this comes to an inference that if electrons cannot flow through a concurrent(existing or  happening) loop, then no current is flowing through the loop or the circuit. And when there is no current flowing through the circuit there can be no transfer of energy through the circuit and thus the light stays off. This is how the 'ELECTRIC SWITCHES' work.

The above shown is a simple literal representation of an electric switch. A switch has two pieces of metal inside it and when the pieces of metal touch we get a complete circuit and the light turns on, when pieces of metal are pulled apart it becomes an open circuit and the light is turned off as no current flows through the circuit.This is also the same how  the fuses work.

In the second part of this chapter we will study and get to know the differences between 'Conventional current' and the 'actual electron flow'.