Electrical Current Explained - AC DC, fuses, circuit breakers, multimeter, GFCI, ampere

Current

The flow of electrons in a circuit.

Voltage

The pushing force that causes electrons to flow in a circuit.

Amperes (amps)

The unit of measurement for electrical current.

Copper

A good electrical conductor used in wiring due to its loosely bound electrons.

Insulator

A material, such as rubber, that does not allow free electrons to pass through.

Conventional current

The flow of electricity from positive to negative, as originally theorized by Benjamin Franklin.

Electron flow

The actual flow of electrons in a circuit from negative to positive.

AC (Alternating Current)

Electricity where electrons alternate between moving forwards and backwards.

DC (Direct Current)

Electricity where electrons flow in one direction only.

Ammeter

A device used to measure the flow of current in a circuit.

Resistance

A measure of the difficulty electrons face when flowing through a material.

Fuse

A safety device with a thin wire that breaks the circuit when current exceeds a certain limit.

Circuit breaker

A switch that opens the circuit automatically to prevent overload or short circuit.

GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter)

A device that cuts power if an imbalance in current occurs, protecting against electric shocks.

Ohm

The unit of measurement for electrical resistance.

Coulomb

A unit of electrical charge, with one coulomb equivalent to approximately six quintillion electrons.

Rectifier

A device that converts AC to DC.

Inverter

A device that converts DC to AC.