| A | B |
|---|
| Electricity | Flow of electric current in a circuit. |
| Electrical charge | An object that ha an excess amount of either positive or negative charges. |
| Frictional force | The force that results from relative motion between objects (like the wheel and axle of a car) |
| Static electricity | A buildup of either postive or negative charge; consists of isolated motionless charges, like those produced by friction. |
| Electric field | Area around a charged object is affected by its charge |
| Electrical force | The force that charged materials or objects exert on each other. |
| Conductor | Material that rearranges well. |
| Insulator | Material difficult for material to rearrange. |
| Conductivity | the ease with which rearrangement (induction) happens in a material |
| Semiconductor | Material between conductor and insulator in its ability to carry current. |
| Discharge | Brief flow of electrons from a charged object to the rearranged object. |
| Electroscope | An instrument that is used to detect electrical charge. |
| Circuit | The structures that provide closed paths through which electricity travels. |
| Electrical Diagram | Physical representation of an electrical circuit using symbols. |
| Battery | An example of a potential difference sourcel. |
| Device | Object that transforms electrical energy in a circuit into work. |
| Switch | Used to open or close a circuit, depending on its position. |
| Resistor | Components of an electrical circuit that are used to control circuit. |
| Potential Difference | The amount of potential energy that each of of electrical charge has. |
| Voltage | Another name for potential difference. |
| Voltmeter | Used to measure the voltage in an electrical circuit; must be connected in series. |
| Dry cell | Nicknamed "electron pump"; uses chemical reactions between a metal container and a chemical paste to produce a potential difference; Ex.: duracell, eveready |
| Wet cell | Uses chemical reactions to produce a potential difference using metal plates of differing conductivity in an electrolyte solution. |
| Generator | Uses mechanical energy from turning a turbine to produce electrical potential energy. Powered by steam (ex. burning fossil fuels) or other sources such as moving water, etc. |
| Current | Flow of electric charge in a closed circuit (actually number of electrons involved). Carries energy and does work. Represented by an "I" in a circuit. |
| Ampere | Standard unit for current |
| Volt | Standard unit for potential difference. |
| Ammeter | Used to measure the current in an electrical circuit. |
| Fuse | A single-use safety device that causes a break in a circuit if it begins to overheat. Uses a metal that completely melts. |
| Circuit breaker | A multiple use safety device for an electrical circuit that causes a switch to open a circuit if it overheats to the point that the metal within it bends or warps. |
| Resistance | The measure of an object's ability to conduct electricity. High resistance means low conductivity. |
| Ohm | Standard unit for resistance in a circuit. |
| Ohmmeter | Used to measure the amount of resistance in a component of an electrical circuit. |
| Ohm's Law | Relates voltage, current, and resistance. (V = IR) |
| Superconductor | Any material that has little or no electrical resistance. |
| Electrical power | Rate at which electrical energy is transformed to usable energy to do work. Found by multiplying the voltage by the current. |
| Watts | Standard unit for power. |
| Coulomb | Standard unit for electrical charge. |
| Electrical Energy | Another term for electricity. Found by multiplying the power of a device by the time that it is operated. |
| In-Series Circuit | Circuit in which the current has only one path. |
| Kirchoff's Voltage Law | Voltage decreases along the path in a series circuit. These "drops" (although not equal if the resistance in each device varies) have to sum to the total original voltage. |
| In-Parallel Circuit | A circuit which is divided into different "branches" for current to flow. |
| Kirchoff's Current Law | States that current is divided up with each new branch in a parallel circuit, and the division is only equal if the resistances in each path are equal. The total amount of current in the entire circuit is the sum of the current in all the individual branches (find using Ohm's Law). |
| Short circuit | A path in an electrical circuit which has zero to low resistance. |
