Electricity Lecture Notes Review

Flashcards for reviewing key vocabulary and definitions from the electricity lecture notes.

What is Electricity?

A form of energy involving the flow of electrons; can be dangerous due to high voltage.

Current Electricity

The electricity from a battery or power point, made up of electrons moving along a conducting pathway.

Electric Circuit requires ______

Requires a conducting path, a source of power, and a load/device to use the power.

Conductor

A material that allows heat or electricity to flow through it easily, e.g., copper wire.

Insulator

A material that does not allow heat or electricity to move through it easily, e.g., plastic or wood.

Cell (Electricity)

Stores chemical energy and transfers it to electrical energy when a circuit is connected.

Battery

Two or more cells connected together.

Simple Circuits

A continuous path of that metal allows electric current to flow; breaks in the circuit stop the current.

What is included in a circuit diagram?

Symbols which represent components such as switch (open or closed), wire, voltmeter, ammeter, battery, and load.

Types of Circuits

Simple circuits, series circuits and parallel circuits.

Series Circuit

Components that are connected one after the other in a single loop; easy to connect. Voltage is shared equally among loads and the current is the same at every point

Parallel Circuit

Has multiple branches, each with its own components; current splits between branches. Voltage is the same between loads and the current is split.

Electrical Current

Continuous movement of electrons through a wire, measured as the number of charges per second (Amperes). Also referred to as (I)

Ammeter

Measures the electric current in amperes (A) or milliamperes (mA); always wired in series.

Voltage

The force/push that the current transports through a circuit, measured in volts (V). It represents the potential difference that drives electric charge flow.

Voltmeter

Measures voltage; always wired in parallel.

Resistance

Measure of how the flow of charge (current) is slowed down through a device, measured in Ohms (Ω).

Ohm's Law

Relates voltage, current, and resistance in an electric circuit (V = I x R).