Electricity is something we all have grown up with. But was it there since the beginning? No. The various devices we use such as bulbs, fans, TVs, radios, mobile phones, all these are the product of the work of our scientists from the recent past. Let us then enter the world of electricity in this article.
Electricity is an energy
Electricity is a form of energy. This energy has been there since the universe began. The devices mentioned above are only the machines that have been invented recently. We humans have started using this energy just a few hundred years back. But electricity as energy has been present all along.
Electricity in nature
Lightning is a common example of electricity found in its natural form. Certain animals create electricity in their bodies. The electric eel is one of them. It can generate electricity up to 600 V, enough to stun their prey, and also to escape from their enemies. Other animals that use electricity for food and escape, but on a comparatively smaller scale, are electric catfish, certain types of sharks, echidna, and platypus.
Electricity in human bodies
Well, even human beings are part of nature, and it is obvious that electricity is a part of the human body. Our brains work because of electricity. The brain sends nerve signals to every part of the body and gets signals back because of electrical signals. Our entire body works because the brain controls it by sending and receiving electrical signals. The other activities of the brain such as thinking, feeling, dreaming, etc., are all because of these signals. The electric signals that pass from one brain cell to another are called synapses. It has been found that the human body generates enough electricity to power a mobile phone for about 70 hours.
Our hearts beat regularly. How does it do so? It is because of the signal that comes from the brain. When the heart gets an electric current, the muscles contract as if getting a shock. This sudden contraction of the heart pumps up the blood. This is a continuous process that goes on till death.
What is the source of electricity?
Now coming to the basic question, what is the source of all this? The answer is in atoms. We know that everything in the universe is made of atoms.
Atoms are tiny particles that makeup you, me, the chair we are sitting on, the water we drink, the air around us, and the stars that twinkle.
Atoms are mainly made of electrons and a nucleus. The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged. Neutrons do not have any charge. A charge means a property of matter that makes it experience a force. The region around a charged particle where this force has an effect is called a field. Field lines are imaginary lines in the field in which this force is directed at.
If the field lines are directed out of a particle, it is called a positive charge and if it is directed towards that particle, it is a negative charge. A particle that does not experience any electric field is a neutral particle, such as a neutron.
Unlike charges attract each other: A positive charge and a negative charge will attract each other.
Like charges repel each other: This means that two particles having the same nature of charge will move away from each other. A positively charged particle will repel or push away another positively charged particle. Similarly, negatively charged particles repel other negatively charged particles.
In an atom, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons. This makes the atom electrically neutral. There are many electrons in an atom and they spin around the nucleus. The outermost electrons are called valence electrons. These valence electrons can be removed from the atoms easily. These loose electrons can move around that material. When there is a provision to make the loose electrons move from one end of the material to the other, this constitutes a current. We call it electric current.
There is another type of electricity where the charges do not move. It is called Static electricity.
Now that we have introduced you to the world of electricity, we shall see more of it in other articles. We shall see the types, and the various terms related to it, such as current, voltage, etc.
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