| A | B |
|---|
| circuit breaker | a switch that opens or closes a circuit by turning off or on |
| conductor | a material through which electricity moves easily |
| electric charge | the electrical property of particles of matter; it can be positive or negative |
| electric current | a continuous flow of electric charges |
| electric discharge | the loss or release of electric charge |
| filament | a long, thin coil of wire that glows when electricity passes through it |
| fuse | a device in a circuit that contains a metal strip, which melts and breaks when the circuit is overheated |
| insulator | a material through which electricity does not move easily |
| parallel circuit | an electric cicuit having more than one path along which electric current can travel |
| series circuit | an electric circuit in which the parts are connected in a single path |
| static electricity | electric charges that have built up on the surface of an object |
| switch | a device that completes or breaks the path a current can follow in an electric circuit |
| electrical energy | the form of energy that comes from charged particles |
| unlike charges | attract |
| like charges | repel |
| materials that are conductors | paper clip, aluminum foil, nail, wire |
| materials that are insulators | plastics, rubber, wood, paper, cloth, ceramics |
| lightning | a giant electric discharge caused by negative charges jumping from a cloud to the ground |
| incandescent bulb | a light bulb that contains a filament that glows when electricity passes through it |
| fluorescent bulb | a light bulb that contains mercury gas and gives off white light |
| open circuit | a circuit that is incomplete and has a break in the pathway; charges can't flow through it |
| closed circuit | a circuit that is complete and contains no break; charges can flow through it |
| Thomas Edison | inventor of the light bulb |
| Lewis Latimer | improved light bulb with carbon filament |
