Blog 1. Note: Current Electricity and Electric Circuits

Diagram: Parts of a circuit.

• Think of a cycle when thinking about electric currents.
  
  
• Red for positive (+) terminal, Black for negative (-) terminal, which is why wires are coloured to keep track of the direction of electron current flow.
  
  
• For electric current to flow, there needs to be a complete path from (-) side of power supply -> (+) side.
• Scratch that, now we've learned the Conventional circuit... which is the opposite: + to -
  
  
• THIS IS CALLED A CIRCUIT which is required for ANY electrical device to work properly.
  
  
• An ammeter must be an excellent conductor so that no energy is lost.
  
  
• There are too many circuit symbols to post here.
  
  

VOCABULARY4KIDS

electric current: the flow of charge/electrons.

Current is the rate of charge flow (I) : I = Q/t

I = current in amperes (A), Q = charge in coulombs (C), t = time in seconds.

Base unit for current: C/s

conventional current: the model of a positive charge flow

ammeter: a current-measuring device

direct current (DC): current flows in a single direction: power supply through conductor -> load, a device that uses energy -> power supply.

alternating current (AC): electrons periodically reverse the direction of their flow.

circuit: check abv.