Third Year Science

Static and Current Electricity

 In this topic:
• Static electricity
• What is charge?
• Static electricity as a force
• Earthing
• Lightning
• Insulators and Conductors
• Electrical circuits
• Ohm’s Law
 Let’s make
some static!
 Static Electricity
• What causes static electricity?
 The Atom
• Nucleus = centre of
the atom
• Neutrons = neutral
(no charge)
• Protons = positive
charge
• Electrons = negative
charge
 The Atom
Number of Number of
• Normal atoms: protons electrons

Neutral charge
 The Atom
Number of Number of
• Too many protons: protons electrons

Positive charge
 The Atom
Number of Number of
• Too many electrons: protons electrons

Negative charge
 Electrons and Electricity
• The Electron is responsible for almost all of
electricity
 What is charge?
Charge: the overall charge on a body
when electrons are added or removed

Am I charged?
+-+- +4 -4
=0
+-+- Uncharged
 What is charge?
Losing an electron causes a positive charge

Am I charged?
-++- +4 - 3
= +1
+-+ Positive charge
 What is charge?
Gaining an electron causes a negative charge

Am I charged?
+-+-- +4 - 5
= -1
+-+- Negative charge
Is Static Electricity a force?
Force: causes a stationary
E
object to
move
Is Static Electricity a force?
Force: causes a stationary
E
object to
move

YES!

Static Electricity is a Force

 Demonstrating force between
charged objects
Opposite
charges attract
each other

Like charges
repel each other
 So what is static electricity?
Static electricity: an imbalance of
positive and negative charges

• As soon as it can, the object will discharge to

go back to neutral or uncharged
• This can produce a ‘spark’ or a ‘shock’
Earthing
 Earthing
Earthing: when excess electrons are
allowed to flow into the earth

• Earthing removes charge from a charged

object
 Earthing
Earthing: when excess electrons are
allowed to flow into the earth

• This is designed for safety

 Lightning damage
• Lightning can damage buildings
• The electricity travels through the walls to the
earth
 Lightning Rods
• Made of good
conducting
metals (e.g.
copper)
• Lightning goes
through the
conductor to
earth
• The building is
safe
 Insulators and Conductors
Plastic Biro Paper pieces
ATTRACTS

Metal Pen Paper pieces

NO EFFECT
 Insulators and Conductors
Insulator: a material through which
charge cannot flow

• The plastic biro was charged by rubbing it

• It stayed charged because it is an insulator
• The charge couldn’t flow out of the plastic
 Insulators and Conductors
Conductor: a material through which
charge can flow

• The metal pen was charged by rubbing

• The charge immediately flowed out of it
• No charge left to attract the paper
CURRENT ELECTRICITY
What is an electrical circuit?
 What is an electrical circuit?
• It’s a way of getting electrons to do a job
safely
 What is an electrical circuit?
• Electrons are stored in batteries and can move
in wires

• When electrons pass

through wires they
heat up.
• This causes light to
be radiated by the
bulbs
What is an electrical circuit?
Water always moves from high to low

As the water falls

from the high
ground to the low
ground it loses some
of its potential
energy
 What is an electrical circuit?
High potential • Electrons always move
from high to low
potential

low potential
 What is an electrical circuit?
• Electrons always move from high to low
potential

As the electrons
pass through the
bulb wires they
loose some of their
potential energy and
eventually the
battery run out!!
 Rules for a Circuit
1. Electron source (a battery)
 Rules for a Circuit
1. Electron source (a battery)
2. Path for them to move through i.e. A wire
(conductor)
 Rules for a Circuit
1. Electron source (a battery)
2. Path for them to move through i.e. A wire
(conductor)
3. Continuity, the path must be continuous
 Insulators and Conductors
• Can you remember?
Insulator: a material through
which charge cannot flow

Conductor: a material through

which charge can flow
Which one will light the bulb?

Any
predictions?
Which one will light the bulb?

Did it light?
Which one light the bulb?

Any
predictions?
Which one light the bulb?

Did it light?
 Lab activity 29 (page 75)
To distinguish between Insulators and
Conductors
 Q2 (a)
• Name 4 possible conductors

• Name 4 possible insulators

 Q2 (b)
• Given: Wires and 2
Battery Bulb crocodile clips

• How would you set up a circuit with these so

you can test your items from Q2(a)?
Q2 (b)
 Types of circuit
Series Circuit
This is when the parts
of the circuit are
connected like this...

‘Hand in hand’
 Types of circuit
Series Circuit
If one bulb blows, the
other won’t get any
electrons
Remember: electrons
can’t jump through
empty space
 Types of circuit
Parallel Circuit
This is when the
components of the
circuit are
connected like this...

‘one on top of each

other’
 Types of circuit
Parallel Circuit
If one blows the other
will still get electrons!!
 Voltage
Voltage: the potential a
battery has to do work

• A flat battery will read 0 volts

 Current

What is current?
 Current
Current: a measure of how many
electrons move past a point in 1 second
 Current
Current: a measure of how many
electrons move past a point in 1 second

• Too many electrons per

second can be Bad!!!
 Current
Current: a measure of how many
electrons move past a point in 1 second

• Too many electrons per

second can be Bad!!!
Unit of current
AMPERES or Amps (A)
 Resistance
Resistance: a measure of how good a
material is at stopping electrons

Unit of resistance
OHMS (Ω)
 Resistors
Good Resistors
• Insulators are good resistors
• They have high resistance value

Bad Resistors
• Conductors are good resistors
• They have low resistance value
Symbols Used in Electricity
 Is there a relationship between the
speed of water falling through a pipe
and the height of the pipe?
 Is there a relationship between the
current of electrons in a circuit and the
voltage of the battery?
 Ohm’s Law
Ohm’s Law: voltage is directly
proportional to current

V
I R
 Ohm’s Law
• Another way to state Ohm’s law is:
 Potential (volts) equals current (amps) times the
load (ohms).
• In a basic circuit, one of the three values can
be calculated from the other two.
 Ohm’s Law
The most important electronics equation:

V = voltage (Volts) V = I×R

I = current (Amps)
R = resistance (Ohms)
V
I R
 Lab activity 30 (page 76)
To set up a simple electric circuit to
measure and show the relationship
between current, voltage and resistance
Ohm’s Law Circuit Diagram
Voltage (V) Drawing our Graph

This is a directly
proportional
relationship

(0, 0) Current (A)

 Definition How is it formed?

Static Force
Earthing between
Electricity
charged
objects

Lightning & Conductor Insulator

lightning rods
 Current: Voltage: Rules for a
• Definition • Definition circuit
• Units • Units

Conductors
Current & insulators
Electricity in a circuit

Resistance:
Ohm’s Law:
• Definition
• Definition Types of
• Units
• Equation circuit
• Examples of
• Graph
resistors
 Chapter 42:
STATIC & CURRENT ELECTRICITY
DONE!!